JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Patrick McGuinness, a Jacksonville attorney celebrated for his courtroom skills and savage wit, died Monday at age 70.
McGuinness was receiving treatment for bone cancer and recently underwent a stem cell transplant at Mayo Clinic. According to a letter from Public Defender Charlie Cofer, the procedure went well but McGuinness's system rejected the stem cells, leading to his death.
McGuinness worked in the Public Defender's Office for three decades and was considered a uniquely skilled lawyer. He is best known for his role in the Oscar-winning documentary "Murder On A Sunday Morning," the extraordinary true story of a wrongfully accused Jacksonville teenager charged with a murder he did not commit. Along with fellow assistant public defender Ann Finnell, McGuinness presented evidence that the teen was tormented and brutalized by officers with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office until he confessed. (JSO and the State Attorney Office' later apologized. Two other men were later convicted of the murder.)
McGuinness was one of 10 seasoned attorneys with a combined 300 years of experience fired in 2008 by newly elected Public Defender Matt Shirk, who had almost no trial experience at the time. (Shirk left office in disgrace after a Grand Jury recommended he be removed from office.)
After leaving the Public Defender's Office, McGuinness went into private practice with Finnell, Gonzalo Andux and Lara Nezami.
Cofer sent word of McGuinness' death to the staff of the Public Defender's Office Monday afternoon. "Patrick was known for his raconteur style and wit, and was one of the finest trial attorneys this office has ever seen," Cofer wrote. "His instinctive skills at cross-examination were extraordinary. He served most of his time with the office as a part of the Homicide Team, and his investigative skills were unsurpassed."
He added, "Patrick will be remembered by his friends as having all the characteristics, and frailties, of an Irishman in full flower. He will be sorely missed by those in this office, those who have left, and the legal community at large."
Read Cofer's full letter below:
To all PD-04 Attorneys and Staff:
It is with great sorrow that I advise all of PD-04 of the death this morning of Patrick McGuinness. As many of you know, Patrick had been diagnosed with bone cancer, and had been receiving a treatment involving a stem cell transplant at the Mayo Clinic. The actual procedure went well, but it appears that Patrick’s body rejected the stem cells, leading to his death.
Patrick joined the Public Defender’s Office in Jacksonville in October of 1978. He served with distinction until January 2, 2009, when he left the office and opened a practice with Ann Finnell, Gonzalo Andux, and Lara Nezami.
Patrick was known for his raconteur style and wit, and was one of the finest trial attorneys this office has ever seen. His instinctive skills at cross-examination were extraordinary. He served most of his time with the office as a part of the Homicide Team, and his investigative skills were unsurpassed.
He will probably be remembered most for his role as co-counsel (with Ann Finnell) on the Brenton Butler case. Butler was charged with the robbery and shooting death of a women in the parking lot of a motel on the Southside. Butler had been picked up in the vicinity of the motel shortly after the shooting, and was taken back to the scene, and identified by the victim’s husband in a show-up. Detectives testified that Butler confessed, and the defense presented his testimony that the confession had been coerced.
Butler was acquitted by the jury. Later, McGuinness came upon information as to the true perpetrator of the homicide, and provided that information to the Sheriff’s Office. That information lead to the identification of a fingerprint on items in the victim’s purse, which had been found in another part of town. Ultimately, that individual was prosecuted and convicted of the homicide.
The handling of the Butler case was covered in an HBO documentary called “Murder on a Sunday Morning”. The film won an Academy Award for Best Documentary and can be viewed at:
Patrick will be remembered by his friends as having all the characteristics, and frailties, of an Irishman in full flower. He will be sorely missed by those in this office, those who have left, and the legal community at large.
Charlie Cofer
Public Defender
