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INSIDE ARCHIVE


Marketing and
University Communication
UW-Green Bay, CL 815
2420 Nicolet Drive
Green Bay, WI 54311-7001
(920) 465-2214

E-mail: matzken@uwgb.edu

Rev. May 13, 2008

 

Sidebar: Guilty or not guilty,
they seek justic as result

University of Wisconsin-Green Bay grads sit on both sides of the aisle when it comes to criminal cases. Bob Holmes is the principal trial attorney for the Isabella County Prosecutor’s Office in Mt. Pleasant, Mich. John Zadrazil pits himself against prosecutors as an assistant public defender in Appleton. While their roles may seem like they’re polar opposites, both men seek out truth and justice.

John Zadrazil '73
Assistant State Public Defender
Appleton
UW-Green Bay Major: Regional Analysis
Law School: John Marshall Law School

Zadrazil spends his days in court and often in jails, conferring with the accused and going over their rights and their stories.
      “As an attorney, I realize that the obligation is to do the best job you can do for your client,” he says.
      “That’s your job.”
      He understands he is representing people who are in jail because they are suspected of doing something wrong, and many times are rightfully incarcerated.
      “You try to build up a personal relationship with all of them to find out what their cases are about,” Zadrazil said. “Even if a person has a case where it looks like he’s guilty, you still try to see what you can do to minimize what his disposition is going to be. If they have five counts, you still try to work out an agreement with the district attorney to have a lesser sentence.”
      Those who need the services of a public defender are the less fortunate, the indigent.
      Helping them through a situation that may have arose out of less-than-ideal circumstances or surroundings gives Zadrazil that feeling of doing something good for a person.
      “It’s interesting how various people define what a win will be,” he said. “For us, a win is not always a guilty verdict. That’s the ultimate win, but a lot of the time it’s a win if you can convince a judge that a person is better off on probation rather than going to jail. That becomes more of a win, especially for the (accused) person.”
      On being a lawyer: “There is a lot of contact with people that a lot of other people would not want to be associated with. You get a lot of personal contact with them.
      “You have to be making sure the other side is doing their job. Do they have enough evidence to charge a person? Do they follow all the rules? You’re the only one in (the courtroom) saying, ‘Give this guy a fair break.’”
      On UWGB: Zadrazil was in one of the first graduating classes from UW-Green Bay.
      “The first month we went to school there were not even doors (on the buildings). They had sheets of plywood they wired shut at night.”
      He is impressed by the progress the campus has made in the last four decades.
      “It’s kind of unbelievable from where it all started.”

Bob Holmes


Click here to download a PDF file of the entire May 2008 issue of Inside magazine.