Montana true believer, top criminal defense lawyer

Good story about public defender Randi Hood, named Montana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers' outstanding defense attorney of the year. The article also gives a good general sense of the job, and portrays a conscientious - and a little care-worn, I think - person hard at work doing it.

Hood says that while most people don't understand her willingness to defend such clients, her years in the public defenders office have taught her that offenders are people who deserve legal representation, no matter how monstrous the acts of which they are accused...

Along with her successes in the courtroom, Hood has had her share of losses. She's always disappointed for her client when she doesn't achieve her desired outcome in a case.

But she says the only time she really gets discouraged is when she works diligently to get a client a good deal in court only to have that person return to her office a few weeks later because he or she didn't abide by the rules established by the judge. She has a number of repeat customers.

"You go to the well with the same person a lot of times and that gets you down a little bit," Hood said.

True that.