Black lawyer, white killer, and the principles of US justice

Tampa attorney Theresa Jean-Pierre Coy marched into America’s identity wars knowing she risked being called an opportunist, and perhaps even a traitor to her race.

After all, prosecutors described her client Michael Drejka as a “parking lot vigilante” – an angry white man who shot and killed an unarmed black man during an argument over a handicapped-reserved parking spot.

But for Ms. Jean-Pierre Coy, who is black, upholding the core value of the United States justice system – equal treatment for all – is the only way to advance the rule of law for all. So she volunteered as co-counsel for the defense in a case where the invocation of Florida’s “stand your ground” law, as well as the races of defendant and victim, reminded many of the fatal shooting of unarmed black teen Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, in 2012.

The politics of race, guns, and “stand your ground” did indeed get mixed up in Mr. Drejka’s case.

But she says she kept pushing for the trial to

Fatal confrontationFloridians “wanted to take this seriously”Racial overtonesNo regrets