Beat The Prosecution

Winning while redefining what is victory: Trial Teacher & Asheville criminal defense lawyer Fredilyn Sison

Jon Katz Season 2 Episode 10

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"I lucked out with getting interviewed by a great host." Those are the words of this episode's guest Fredilyn "Fredi" Sison, upon speaking for the first time on a podcast. 

Fairfax, Northern Virginia, criminal / DUI defense lawyer Jonathan Katz has known Fredi for years. Jon Katz and Fredi Sison are both graduates -- from separate years -- of the multi-week Trial Lawyers College, when the TLC was still at Gerry Spence's beautiful Thunderhead Ranch, outside Dubois, Wyoming, before the schism that led to the TLC's operating elsewhere. Fredi for years taught at the TLC, continues teaching at the two-week Trial Practice Institute of the National Criminal Defense College (NCDC) that Fredi and Jon attended in different years as students, and joined TLC grads Mary Peckham and Joane Garcia-Colson not only to organize women lawyer training and development sessions through the Three Sisters group, but also with Mary and Joane co-authored  Trial in Action: The Persuasive Power of Pyschodrama (Trial Guides, 2010). 

Fredi for years, worked as a trial lawyer at numerous public defender offices. She now is a solo practitioner in Asheville, North Carolina, primarily handling court appointments, not wanting ability to pay to come between her and her clients. 

With the conviction rate being so high in federal court, Fredi redefines the meaning of winning, for instance when that means obtaining a partial acquittal, or working so hard on a sentencing that her client returns home that night rather than spending a lenthy time warehoused in prison. 

Fredi believes strongly in the persuasive power of psychodrama -- which we covered in an April 2024 Beat the Prosecution episode -- and improvisational approaches. Her devotion to delivering great criminal defense is inspiring and infectious. 

This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at info@KatzJustice.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text).

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