So much for Vick's 'hard-fought' trial

His team of lawyers never should've vehemently defended him to the public like they did

Jim Baumbach

12:34 PM EDT, August 27, 2007

There are so many gruesome reasons to be outraged by Michael Vick right now that I understand that lying about his involvement in dogfighting is not at the top. But now that he has officially pleaded guilty in court this morning, are we supposed to just forget that it wasn't long ago when he and his lawyers were telling us he wasn't involved?

After Vick's arraignment a month ago, his lawyer, Billy Martin, stood on the back steps of the Richmond, Va. federal courthouse and vehemently defended his client. Obviously that is what a defense attorney is paid to do, and Vick undoubtedly is paying Martin a lot of money.

"You all either heard or saw Michael take the first step toward proving his innocence," Martin told the large crowd of reporters, with Vick's mother and his fellow defense attorneys standing to his side. "He asserted in a loud and clear voice he is not guilty of these allegations. We intend to prove his innocence at trial ... Ladies and gentlemen, this is going to be a hard-fought trial."

Back then there was no telling that all of Vick's buddies were going to accept plea deals, so I buy Martin's belief that it was going to be a "hard-fought" trial. Still, Vick was guilty, always has been. He admitted that today. The lawyers surely knew that. So how exactly were they going to defend him?

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Martin read a statement from Vick back on that hot July day, and it said in part, "I pleaded innocent to the allegations made against me. I take these charges seriously and look forward to clearing my name. I respectfully ask you all to hold your judgment until all the facts are shown."

I'd say the facts as we knew them then don't look much different than today. The only thing that changed is that it became clear to Vick's lawyers they were going to be fighting a losing battle, so they convinced the embattled quarterback to plead guilty. Now his fate is with this judge.

Call me a crank, but I hope the judge does not give Vick any slack for coming clean now, prior to his trial. Not when he did so only because his All-Star defense team convinced him it was his best course of action.

I am not naïve enough to believe Vick -- or anyone else who would stand to lose as much as he did -- would ever admit his role in a heinous crime when presented with the accusation, or even after charged with it. We all know why he defended himself. But I hope today he feels at least some embarrassment for having his lawyers fight the charges in public as hard as they did, only to admit in the end that he is, in fact, guilty.