Mickey Sherman
Michael "Mickey" Sherman is a practicing criminal-defense attorney. He has frequently appeared as a commentator on MSNBC, CNBC, Court TV, Fox News, and CNN, and has been employed as a legal analyst on CBS News, appearing on the CBS Early Show and CBS Evening News.[1]
Life and career
A graduate of Greenwich High School, Sherman received his bachelor's degree from the University of Connecticut and, in 1971, his law degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law. In May 2005, Sherman was disinvited from speaking at Greenwich High School's commencement. Mr. Sherman served as an assistant public Defender in Stamford Superior Court and later as an assistant prosecutor, a post he held for four years.[2]
Sherman is currently a partner of the Stamford law firm of Sherman, Richichi & Hickey, founded in 1973. In 1976, he was appointed assistant town attorney for Greenwich. He is a founding member of the Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyers Association for which he served as an officer and board member.[1]
His courtroom and trial tactics have been the subject of feature articles in the New York Times, the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, and New York Newsday. In 1986, the New York Times questioned whether he hurt the jury system by hiring a juror from a deadlocked rape jury to sit through the defendant's retrial as a consultant. After the second trial, the Connecticut Legislature passed a statute outlawing the tactic.[1]
Sherman successfully defended a Vietnam veteran in a murder trial using the post-traumatic stress disorder defense. That became the subject of half-hour productions on CBS’s Verdict, NBC’s Dateline and the BBC series, America on Trial.[1]
Sherman was the lawyer for Alex Andrew Kelly, a Darien, Connecticut teenager who was charged with raping two teenage girls. Kelly later became famous for skipping bail and leaving the country to live as a fugitive in Europe for more than a decade. Another lawyer represented Kelly when he returned to the U.S. to face trial.
Sherman also represented Michael Skakel and lost at his murder trial in Norwalk, Connecticut.
Reprimand and accusations of misconduct
On May 25, 2007, Sherman received a public reprimand by the Connecticut Grievance Committee, a state agency which disciplines lawyers, after admitting to breaking two rules of professional conduct.[3] The Hartford Courant had previously reported that former client and confessed swindler, Hakan Yalincak, complained to the agency in March 2006 that Sherman, his attorney, had billed him but had provided little documentation to show where the money went. Yalincak, 22, currently has a civil suit pending against Sherman.[4]
According to The New York Post, Sherman was, as of January 2007, under federal criminal investigation for failing to pay taxes on millions of dollars of income. The newspaper quoted Hope Seeley, one of Michael Skakel's appellate lawyers, as stating, "Due to the financial pressures placed on Sherman, which included federal tax liabilities, he did not do certain investigations, he did not hire certain experts". According to The New York Post, Sherman strongly denied that there was a federal tax investigation and, asked about Skakel's alleged plans to accuse him of improperly pocketing money, Sherman stated, "They can allege whatever they want . . . I'm not concerned about that issue,".[5]
Celebrity
Sherman is married to Fox News legal analyst and author Lis Wiehl. Numerous celebrities were present at their marriage on June 23, 2006 at a Greenwich restaurant: singer Michael Bolton, Bolton's fiance, Nicollette Sheridan, Court TV founder Steven Brill, legal analysts Rikki Klieman and Catherine Crier, Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton, television host and journalist Dan Abrams, CBS journalist Hannah Storm, NBC Sports anchor Dan Hicks, actor Christopher Wiehl, film producer and director Barry Levinson, Fox News personality Geraldo Rivera, Fox News personality E.D. Hill, state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, filmmaker Tomaczek Bednarek, Fox News legal analyst Jonna Spilbor, and John Dearden. Judge Judy Sheinlin showed up after the ceremony.[6]
Sherman has an adult son and an adult daughter from a previous marriage. Wiehl, about 14 years younger than Sherman, has a daughter and a son from a previous marriage.
In Barry Levinson's Man of the Year (2006 film) Sherman appears as a "Talking head lawyer".[7]
Notes
- ^ a b c d [1]Web site of Sherman, Richichi & Hickey, Web page titled "Mickey Sherman" accessed October 11, 2006
- ^ [2]"Fans of Feiger" Web site, Web page titled "Lawyers Hall of Fame: Mickey Sherman", accessed October 11, 2006
- ^ [3]State of Connecticut Judicial Branch decision
- ^ [4]Stacom, Don, "Panel Investigates Defense Attorney", article in The Hartford Courant, January 5, 2007
- ^ [5]Mangan, Dan, "Skakel Lawyer Under Probe in Tax Racket: Sherman May Owe the IRS Big Bucks", article in The New York Post, January 6, 2007, accessed March 6, 2007
- ^ Costaregni, Susie, The Dish column, "Paul Simon springs a 'Surprise' visit", page A2, The Advocate of Stamford, July 1, 2006, page A2
- ^ [6]IMDB.com Web page titled "Mickey Sherman", accessed October 22, 2006