Stuart, Gary L. 1939–

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Stuart, Gary L. 1939–

PERSONAL: Born October 8, 1939, in Gallup, NM; son of Arthur Lester and DeAva (Cato) Stuart; married August 31, 1962; wife's name, Kathleen Ann; children: Gregory Lester, Kara Stuart Lewis, Tosh Forrest. Education: Attended St. Michael's College (Santa Fe, NM), 1961–62; University of Arizona, B.S., J.D., 1967.

ADDRESSES: Office—Gary L. Stuart, P.C., 2039 East Glenn, Phoenix, AZ 85020-5647. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Lawyer, writer, lecturer, and educator. Jennings, Strouss & Salmon, Phoenix, AZ, associate, 1967–71, partner, 1971–98, of counsel, 1998–; practices law part time; University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, Arizona State University College of Law, adjunct law professor. Chairman of ethics committee for Arizona Bar, Phoenix, 1976–86; faculty member of Arizona College Trial Advocacy, 1987; chairman of Arizona Advisory Commission on Litigation, 1989.

MEMBER: Arizona Bar Foundation (founding fellow), American Board of Trial Advocates (faculty member, 1976, president, 1986).

WRITINGS:

The Ethical Trial Lawyer, Arizona State Bar (Phoenix, AZ), 1994.

Ethical Litigation, Lexis-Nexis Publishing, 1998.

The Gallup 14 (novel), University of New Mexico Press (Albuquerque, NM), 2000.

Miranda: The Story of America's Right to Remain Silent (nonfiction), foreword by Janet Napolitano, University of Arizona Press (Tucson, AZ), 2004.

Editor of the Arizona Law Review while attending law school.

SIDELIGHTS: Gary L. Stuart, a practicing lawyer and an expert in trial advocacy and professional ethics, has written several books pertaining to the law, including a novel about a 1935 riot of mineworkers that resulted in the murder of a sheriff in Gallup, New Mexico. The Gallup 14, recounts the real-life historical episode through two fictitious narrators: a member of the defense team named Billy Wade and Wade's lover, Mary Ann Shaughnessy, who is a schoolteacher. The people charged with the sheriff's murder are Mexican workers who rioted because of low pay and mistreatment while working in the town's nearby coal fields. Further complicating the plot is the ongoing struggle to see who will lead the miners: the National Miners Union, which was backed by a communist organization, or the United Mine Workers, led by the famous John L. Lewis. A Publishers Weekly contributor noted that the book "provide[s] fascinating insights into the moral schisms of New Mexico's political-legal-judicial hierarchy of the day." The reviewer went on to note that the author's "painstakingly constructed novel stands as telling social/moral commentary."

Stuart's book Miranda: The Story of America's Right to Remain Silent is a nonfiction look at the famous case that led to the legal requirement that law officers read criminals their rights, beginning with, "You have the right to remain silent." The Miranda case stems from the 1963 arrest and conviction of an uneducated Latino for various crimes committed in Phoenix. The American Civil Liberties Union eventually took on the case and argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that Miranda did not know about a person's right not to incriminate himself. The court ultimately issued the Miranda warning statement that is now required to be read to people accused of crimes. In addition to the right to remain silent, the other three points to be made in the statement are to inform arrested persons that anything they said can be used in a court of law during their trial, that they have a right to a lawyer during questioning, and that a lawyer can be appointed to them if they cannot afford one. In his book, Stuart delves into the many facts of the case and the court proceedings. He then discusses the relation between the Miranda case and civil liberties, including a discussion of the potential assaults on civil liberties following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

In a review of Miranda on the Z Mag Web site, William Lengeman noted that many books have been written about the case and its aftermath but added: "Something Stuart brings to the table, that many of his predecessors did not, is a familiarity with the case and many of the principals from the legal and law enforcement communities in Arizona, where the Miranda case played out." David Pitt, writing in Booklist, called the book "interesting, timely, and important." Legal Timescontributor Seth Stern noted, "Lay readers get a primer on criminal procedure. Students of the law see how a case percolates to the Supreme Court, owing less to a deficient defense attorney than to a nudge from a local lawyer from the American Civil Liberties Union." John Shelton Lawrence noted in the Journal of American Culture that the author "contributes notably to understanding the maze of issues and emotions embedded in Miranda," and Lawrence added that "Stuart offers a balanced discussion of whether Miranda has impeded law enforcement, citing predictably conflicting opinions."