But the grimmest episode of Mr. Spence's career was a 1979 murder trial for which he was appointed a special prosecutor. Applying every latitude he had learned as a defense lawyer, even going so far as to wear a bulletproof vest in the courtroom and place bodyguards there to suggest how dangerous the defendant was, he obtained not only a conviction but also a death sentence. The defendant, Mark Hopkinson, was electrocuted in 1992 -- Wyoming's first execution in 26 years -- and went to his grave cursing Gerry Spence.
Mr. Spence was criticized by death-penalty opponents, and 10 years after the trial a Federal appeals court chastised him for a roiling closing argument that was "particularly egregious."
"It was the worst thing I ever did," said Mr. Spence, who ultimately joined a failed effort to get Mr. Hopkinson's death sentence changed to life imprisonment.
Mr. Spence's soul-searching about the Hopkinson case is detailed in "Gunning for Justice," which also includes an untrammeled account of his tumultuous first marriage, during which he began to make his legal mark and fathered four children, was flagrantly unfaithful to his wife, quit his practice, moved to Marin County, Calif., to paint, and finally returned to Wyoming, where he later opened a new practice and married Imaging. His Mother's Suicide
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