Presumed Innocent

Barbara is Rusty’s wife. She is a brilliant mathematician who met Rusty at college when she tutored him. To Rusty, Barbara is withdrawn and deeply angry, especially because she is first introduced after Rusty has confessed his affair to her. Rusty, however, indicates that Barbara’s moods have always fluctuated: “For Barbara, though, it has become so easy over the years to disappear into the black forests of her moods. The elements of the outside world that might have once detained her by now have been relegated to the past” (125).

However, in her isolation, she closely resembles Rusty’s mother, connecting to the theme of The Effect of Parenting on Adult Children. Rusty also admits that she is an excellent mother, and has a strong, close relationship with Nate. At the end of the novel, Barbara is also revealed to be Carolyn’s killer. The portrait of Barbara is further complicated by the possibility that she killed Carolyn in such a way as to frame Rusty for the murder.

Lip is Rusty’s best friend and fellow investigator: “On paper, his job is to act as police liaison […] In practice, he is as solitary as a shooting star” (21). Lip is a loner, but his loyalty to Rusty is complete. Throughout the novel, Lip is there for Rusty, even calling him once a week during his trial. Rusty reflects, “I do not know what we have in common, but I admire him” (21).

Rusty describes Lip as having “that look of lurking small-time viciousness that you’ve seen on every no-account kid hanging on a street corner” (21). Lip is smart and savvy, and Rusty says that “Lip would notice things that anyone else would miss” (27). He and Rusty also operate with the same ethical boundaries; when Rusty asks him to cross that boundary, Lip is disappointed, “[taking] one more moment to cast his gray eyes on me harshly, so that I know I’ve let him down” (82). However, Lip’s loyalty remains intact; even when he believes that Rusty killed Carolyn, he continues to support him. Rusty is disconnected from almost everyone in his life—if he maintains a close, intimate connection with anyone, it is Lip.

Sandy is a prominent defense attorney in Kindle County; when Rusty is charged with murder, he hires Sandy. Sandy is dapper and polite, with a “soft Spanish accent” (155), and Rusty feels that Sandy’s “dignity is soothing” (155). He also shows how the lawyers don’t take their adversarial roles in the courtroom personally. Rusty has been up against Sandy many times but doesn’t hesitate to hire Sandy, who he knows to be the best. His partnership with Rusty reminds readers that even though they have been adversaries many times, for them, that is just business, and they still work together easily and respect each other.

Sandy’s performative presence belies a sharply observant and intelligent mind. In addition, Sandy is reserved; Rusty notes, “[T]here are sharp limits on Sandy Stern’s sense of intimacy. I know very little of what he really thinks. Particularly about me” (280). Although Rusty is adept at reading others, he has a hard time reading Sandy. He does, over the course of the trial, realize that Sandy’s “concentration in court is trance-like,” but that his “calculations are not about facts or strategy but character” (268). Sandy’s legal strategy is deep and patient, and his style is thorough and fair. Sandy’s main purpose in the novel, beyond acting as Rusty’s attorney, is to teach defense strategy to a man who has only been a prosecutor. By the end of the novel, he leads Rusty to a significantly different and more expanded view of legal strategy.

Nico is Rusty’s adversary—although they are not openly confrontational, they are competitive throughout the novel. He also acts as a foil for Rusty—they began at the prosecutor’s office at the same time but followed different trajectories; where Rusty worked his way up the office ladder, Nico decided to go into the political side of things. Rusty describes Nico as “a man of medium height, fastidiously trim. […] Although his skin is bad and his coloring peculiar—red hair and olive skin and light eyes—he has the sort of face […] uniformly regarded as handsome” (13). Nico also shows an uncertain, insecure aspect to his personality; even when he is prosecuting Rusty for murder, Rusty realizes that Nico “still wants [Rusty] to like him” (270).

Rusty considers Nico to be purely interested in politics, and yet admits that Nico may be redeemable and is a good lawyer. In addition, “Nico’s most arresting aspect has always been the brassy and indiscriminate sincerity” (13). Despite his professed charisma, however, even Rusty admits that Nico is not up to his usual standard during Rusty’s trial; his uncertainty at trial, coupled with the fact that he wants Rusty to continue to like him, points to both a personal affection for Rusty and a difficulty with prosecuting him.

Raymond is the Kindle County Prosecuting Attorney. He has been Rusty’s boss and mentor for 12 years when the novel begins, and serves as a father figure to Rusty. Rusty’s relationship with Raymond reflects the theme of The Effect of Parenting on Adult Children—he is still seeking approval from a father figure and finds it with Raymond. Rusty is loyal to Raymond and is devastated later in the novel when Raymond abandons him during his murder trial. Although Raymond is “[b]alding, growing stout” (17), he is both charismatic and performative. Rusty calls him “a consummate public man, a speaker, a presence” (17). His character connects with the themes of Performance’s Role in Courtroom Strategy and The Connection Between Law and Politics. The performative traits that made him a success in the courtroom translate well to the political arena.

Tommy is Nico’s second-in-command. Like Rusty, he works at the prosecutor’s office until leaving to be a part of Nico’s campaign. Rusty doesn’t like or trust Tommy who, Rusty says, “always seemed to me to be trying to make facts rather than to understand them” (142). Tommy is unfailingly loyal to Nico and drives the investigation and prosecution in Rusty’s case. His nickname is the Mad Monk, and Rusty describes him as “a former seminarian; five foot six inches if he is lucky, forty or fifty pounds overweight, badly pockmarked, nails bitten to the quick” (142).

From working with him, Rusty also knows that Tommy has “[a] driven personality. The kind to stay up all night working on a brief, to go three months without taking off a weekend. A capable attorney, but he is burdened by a zealot’s poverty of judgment” (142). Beyond that, Tommy is a problematic prosecutor in Rusty’s case for a few reasons. He and Judge Lyttle have a history of not getting along. In addition, Rusty points out that Tommy, who worked in the Homicide Section of the prosecutor’s office, “has become the kind of prosecutor that the P.A.’s office too often breeds: a lawyer who can no longer make out the boundaries between persuasion and deception” (324). Tommy is Rusty’s adversary, along with Nico, going out of his way to build the case against Rusty, bringing their personal adversarial relationship into the courtroom.