Crime

The Girl Who Accused The Wrong Person And The Lawyer Who Threw Her Under The Bus

A lawyer’s job, even when her client acts like a complete jerk, is to stand by that person’s side except in the case of outright fraud or perjury.

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A small story made big news last week because it was emblematic of a bigger problem in the United States — racism.

Miya Ponsetto, a 22-year-old woman visiting New York City and staying at the Arlo Soho hotel, accused a Black teen, also staying in the hotel, of stealing her iPhone. Not only did she accuse him, but she tackled him in the lobby, rifled through his pockets, and screamed, “No, I’m not letting him walk away with my phone,” insisting security arrest him.

The teen’s father happened to be well-established jazz trumpetist, Keyon Harrold, who didn’t take the accusation lightly. He saw it as an attack against his son merely because of his race. He videotaped the encounter and alerted the media.

The young woman flew back home to Southern California but with the fervor of the media attention, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office decided to make an example of Ponsetto and sent detectives to California to arrest her.  She was extradited yesterday [Sunday] and charged with the felony count of attempted robbery, as well as lesser crimes including attempted assault, attempted grand larceny and acting in a manner injurious to a child.  Harrold’s son was only 14.

The legal analysis justifying the top charge of attempt robbery is that by trying to seize the teen’s phone, she was attempting to rob something that didn’t belong to her and used force (the tackle) in the attempt.

It seems to me that but for the media brouhaha, this case would never have been prosecuted. The prosecution will have a tough time proving the young woman intended to take something she knew wasn’t hers. But Manhattan D.A. Cyrus Vance is not taking what their office presumes was racial stereotyping lightly. Interesting for me since so many of my clients, young Black men, who happen to be in cars or just hanging out on the street, are routinely stopped, badgered, and frisked by police for very little reason other than their skin color.

Now let’s talk about Ponsetto’s California lawyer. Following the media firestorm Ponsetto’s actions caused, she decided to set the record straight by giving an “exclusive” interview to Gayle King of CBS This Morning. She hired a lawyer, Sharen H. Ghatan, to accompany her on air. Obviously, Ghatan didn’t prep her client well for the questions that ensued.

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During the interview, Ponsetto was neither contrite nor retiring. “I’m a 22-year-old girl,” she told Gayle King. “I don’t — racism is — how is one girl accusing a guy about a phone a crime?”

When Gayle King, troubled by Ponsetto’s attitude, pressed further, Ponsetto held up a hand, “Alright, Gayle. Enough,” ending the interview.

A lawyer’s job, even when her client acts like a complete jerk, is to stand by that person’s side except in the case of outright fraud or perjury (unless you’re Rudy Giuliani).

Instead, Ghatan, following up on her client’s poor behavior, chose to throw her under the bus, telling journalists, “I don’t think she should have handled it the way she did,” she said. “She was prepared and guided. She apologized, but not in the way she should have. She said so many other things that it almost blurred her message. It was so disrespectful.” With a lawyer like that, who needs a lawyer?

The first job of any lawyer is to protect her client, not her own reputation.  Thus, when Ghatan told the press, “She went off script. She decided to disregard my advice and just go on her own,” she made things worse for Ponsetto in efforts to make them better for herself.

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That instinct may be understandable, but it’s not the job of a criminal defense attorney to announce her client’s errors to the media. It’s her job to prep the client properly or cancel the interview in its entirety. That’s not to say clients don’t go off script or announce things to the media you wish they hadn’t. But you’ve got to grin and bear it.

Maybe sometime long after the case is over, you can write about it in your memoir. But not till then.

Toni Messina has tried over 100 cases and has been practicing criminal law and immigration since 1990. You can follow her on Twitter: @tonitamess.

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