Delays and a familiar face

PEOPLE OFTEN ASK if I miss my old job at The Whig. The short answer is no. I do miss some of the people and every now and then I'll see something which takes me back, but that's about it.

Then you read about a murder trial being postponed because the defendant hires, at the last-second, and actually after the last second, a lawyer who used to live in Quincy and was arrested for killing his wife and had two trials and eventually found not guilty.

That's right. A guy accused of murder hires a lawyer who was accused of murder but was found not guilty. You may have seen his story on Dateline and other shows.

You. Can't. Make. It. Up.

It's amazing in a small city like Quincy how you have personal connections. I knew the lawyer, Curtis Lovelace, because he was an Assistant State's Attorney and was always very good to me as a reporter. His son took guitar lessons at Second String Music. And I played at Curtis' wedding.

I knew the victim in this case, Carlous Wires, because Emily played basketball with his two daughters and his son worked on our building.

And, of course, the defense attorney now out of job, Drew Schnack, is somewhat of a legend around the courthouse and the city. He's a shark and he's fierce and he always tells you what he thinks.

Read the story and click on the Facebook interview with Drew in his office after Monday's hearing. It's classic. Some of the stuff he's talking about you kind of have to be around Fifth and Vermont to understand what he's really getting at. But his comment about Curtis being "a pimple on my butt" and the inner workings of lawyer-client relationships are right on the money.

I spent many an hour in that very office talking about cases with Drew and he was always good to me. He understands the role of the press. We did have disagreements, but only once did it get out of hand and I shrugged it off because, well, that's Drew.

I will say this. If I ever got into serious trouble around here, God forbid, Drew would be at the top of my list to hire.

Again ... You can't make it up. Ever.