Defending toughest clients

Curtis Thompson's stream of courtroom outbursts — a mix of swearing, bizarre rants and threats to kill a number of people — have often left attorney John Hicks' cheeks flushed in anger, but rarely has he allowed himself to be distracted.

That's no small feat.

In the year and a half since he stopped speaking to Hicks, his county-funded criminal-defense attorney, Thompson, 49, has faced three King County juries on a litany of serious charges: assault, kidnapping, rape and murder.

Thompson's threats and courtroom outbursts have been so frequent that he has been strapped in a chair and wheeled into court — and those were on days when his disruptive behavior allowed him to be in the courtroom.

All three trials have ended in convictions for Thompson, who already faced life in prison without parole before a jury on Wednesday found him guilty of the 2004 slaying of a Seattle woman.

Still, Hicks has mounted a defense in each trial, trying to poke holes in the prosecutors' cases even as Thompson has insisted on giving rambling, often incriminating testimony.

"If you do not represent the Curtis Thompsons of the world; if you just look at maintaining an artificially fluffed-up win record by turning down difficult cases, then you are like some lawyers who just take a big fee and plead the guy out as a matter of planned course," Hicks says. "You are just basically a whore with a law degree."

In the 25 years he's practiced law, Hicks has established a reputation for representing some of the most difficult and disruptive defendants to walk the halls of the King County Courthouse. In the adversarial world of criminal justice, Hicks often finds his toughest courtroom challenge is dealing with the people he represents.

His relationship with Thompson is a prime example. In addition to refusing to talk with Hicks, Thompson repeatedly threatened his life, cursed him and disregarded his counsel. When he was sentenced for a 2004 rape and assault in March, Thompson thanked Hicks and co-counsel Phillip Tavel by calling them idiots in open court.

Prosecutors sympathize with Hicks, fellow defense attorneys commend his patience and Hicks, who runs a private practice near Pioneer Square, dryly says that he represents the King County Office of the Public Defender's toughest customers as long as the county pays him the same rate he would earn for a death-penalty case — $90 per hour.

The straight-talking Hicks enjoys the challenge of representing difficult clients. But he doesn't mince words when he expresses his elation over no longer having to represent Thompson.

"Of all of the horrible cases I have had in this last quarter century, Curtis Thompson is the only person I have ever gone on record to say I would give more effective assistance if he isn't present in the courtroom," Hicks said. "If I could have gotten away with it, I would have shot him in each kneecap to keep him from testifying in all three trials."

Nonetheless, Hicks says he plans to appeal Wednesday's guilty verdict, which will automatically add another two life sentences to the five life sentences that Thompson is already facing.

Despite the threats, Hicks, 53, said his greatest concerns revolve around what an angry client could potentially do while in court.

In 2000, Hicks and fellow defense attorney Anthony Savage were representing a man who killed his girlfriend's lover. After the defendant, Matthew Bolar, threatened to do the same to Hicks and Savage, the attorneys had to have a plainclothes jail guard — a hulking former Marine — sit between them and Bolar.

Earlier, Hicks represented serial killer DeWayne Lee Harris. Harris, who was eventually convicted of killing three women and claimed to have killed others, also made threats to people inside the courtroom. Like Thompson, Harris had to be strapped into a restraining chair while in court.

"The bottom line is they hate you because you are not doing what they want," Hicks said. "I'm used to it."

Hicks believes he succeeds with difficult criminal defendants because he doesn't show weakness. He says a criminal defendant will often try to manipulate an attorney who appears weak or unwilling to challenge his client.

While Hicks doesn't view himself as any more patient or at ease with tough clients, Savage disagrees.

"He has a trick of kind of listening and then going away and doing what he pleases, what he thinks is right," said Savage, who represented Green River killer Gary Ridgway. "All of the rancor and anger that's directed at him by his clients doesn't seem to faze him. I tend to get more impatient and irritated with them than John does."

Savage and Hicks admit that sometimes a little self-imposed silence from their clients can be a relief.

"Having a client that threatens me and won't speak to me is very nice. The difficulty, of course, is preparing his case and giving him effective representation," Hicks said.

Soon after Thompson stopped talking to Hicks, the Office of the Public Defender assigned a second attorney to sit at the defense table. Bellevue attorney Tavel said his only job was to be the "liaison" between the two men.

Tavel, who had never handled a murder case before, had to quickly learn how to rationalize with Thompson to make things easier on Hicks.

"One of the biggest things is pandering to him, giving him a voice that's understanding," Tavel said.

Tavel who sat between Hicks and Thompson during the three trials, said Hicks "has the patience of Job," but even his patience has a limit.

"He is an old-school trial lawyer; he never tries to soft-pedal anything. John really is cut out of the Perry Mason, 1950's black-and-white mold," Tavel said.

King County Superior Court Judge Michael Trickey, who had tried two cases alongside Hicks before taking the bench, said Hicks always keeps his cool and maintains a sense of humor.

Case in point: On Tuesday, during his closing argument in the Thompson case, Hicks told jurors that he was going to explain why his client was innocent before the prosecutor begins "defecating on my arguments."

Senior Deputy Prosecutor Scott O'Toole, who prosecuted Thompson in the murder case, hugged Hicks after they made their closing arguments.

"He's been through an incredibly thankless job by a man who has no idea the quality of his reputation," O'Toole said. "I have tremendous respect for him. He, in my mind, truly embodies the dignity of a criminal-defense lawyer."

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com