Page 8 - NC Triangle Vol 6 No 4

RATTORNEY OF THE MONTH
aleigh criminal defense and civil rights attorney Bradley Bannon has seen U2 in concert 10 times. A rabid fan, he was seated
in front of a huge U2 poster in his o ce as he quoted from their song “Acrobat.”
And you can dream,
so dream out loud
And I know that the tide is turning ‘round
So don’t let the bastards grind you down
Bannon has spent over 20 years advocating for individuals and fairness in a justice system that tends to grind regular people down. Yet still he speaks of tides turning, and dreams of systems changing for the better.
Bannon’s mother, Becky, helped inspire that dream. “Mom was a career public school teacher, and I saw growing up what she sac- ri ced to do that. She taught me about the worth of everyone and instilled in me a great respect for public service.”
“I’m driven by this notion that everyone accused or suspected of a crime deserves erce representa- tion. at means every time the government chooses to bring its power down on an individual, that power needs to be met as forcefully as possible, in order to maintain freedom and democracy and fair- ness in our criminal justice system.”
As an early teen, Bannon was an avid reader of true crime books. ey made him want to be a law- yer. “‘Fatal Vision’ was one,” said
Bannon. “It was about a Green Be- ret doctor convicted of killing his pregnant wife and their two small children. I remember reading how a juror said that defense attorney Wade Smith almost turned him around, in just ten minutes of clos- ing argument. at distilled for me the power of advocacy.”
A er four years on his high school mock trial team, Bannon graduated from the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Arts in English and earned his Juris Doctor from Campbell Law School.
“As a kid, I wanted to be a pros- ecutor. But then I went to college. ere was a de nite shi as I be- came more educated about life, the world, systems of government, and systems of oppression. I discov- ered that my sensibilities and sym- pathies tended to lie more with the underdog.”
FANTASTIC LIES AND
THE STAIRCASE
Bannon joined Cheshire Parker Schneider & Bryan a er law school and still refers to Joe Cheshire as “more of a father to me than my own father.” Bannon spent 20 years at the rm, practicing criminal trial defense and appeals and profes- sional licensing defense. Appointed and retained, he represented people accused of everything from speed- ing to white collar crimes to rst- degree murder.
Bannon was part of the defense in the 2006 Duke Lacrosse case in which three members of the team were falsely accused of rape. Us- ing criminal discovery statutes, he
RADLEY e Power ANNON of Advocacy
BY BOB FRIEDMAN
B B