06/20/2026
A fickle weather day in Minneapolis turned into a lovely evening. I had to stop and snap these pictures of the city from the parking garage before departing for home to see if my tomato plants survived the hail.
Then I got to thinking how those pictures of the cityscape embody the practice of criminal defense.
A criminal case is rarely as simple as it first appears.
Looking out across this cityscape, it’s easy to focus on the skyline, like the glass towers, the church bell tower, the streets below, the clouds overhead. But the longer you look, the more details emerge.
There are sharp contrasts in texture and material: reflective glass, weathered brick, concrete, steel, stone, pavement, and greenery. There are areas flooded with light and others hidden in shadow. There are dozens of separate objects competing for attention. Buildings, streets, signs, vehicles, clouds, flags, windows, and architectural details, each contributing something to the overall story.
Criminal defense is much the same.
Every case arrives with a collection of facts, witnesses, documents, recordings, timelines, assumptions, and unanswered questions. Some facts stand in bright sunlight. Others remain hidden in the shadows. And yet others straddle both, much like the pillar to the right of the bell tower in the attached photos.
Some details appear important at first glance, while others seem insignificant until examined more closely.
At first, the bell tower appears to be the focal point. Then your eye is drawn to the American flag tucked between the buildings. Zoom in further and another detail emerges: a ladder inside the bell tower. Suddenly, the tower is no longer just an architectural feature. It tells a different story. Someone had to design it. Someone had to maintain it. And at some point, some brave person had to climb that ladder to reach the bells above.
One new detail changes how we view the entire scene.
That is exactly what experienced criminal defense lawyers do. We look beyond the obvious. We examine evidence from multiple perspectives. We zoom out to understand the full picture and zoom in to uncover the details others may have overlooked. We ask why a witness remembers an event a certain way, what a video does not show, what context is missing from a report, and whether a seemingly minor fact changes the meaning of everything around it.
The strongest defenses are not built from a single fact. They are built by understanding how every piece fits together.
Just as this cityscape becomes richer and more complex the longer you study it, every criminal case contains layers of information that deserve careful examination. Our job is to see the whole picture, identify the overlooked details, and build the most compelling and comprehensive narrative possible in support of our client’s defense.
Because sometimes the difference between a simple story and the truth is found in the details that most people never notice.
