Stagger Lee, a song about a murder over a dice game and a Stetson Hat, was the number one song in America this week in 1959. Listening to it, I was reminded of how I won a jury trial by using its lyrics for my closing argument.

The song, recorded by New Orleans native Lloyd Price, told of two men who “gambled late.” One accused the other of cheating, which led to the shooting death of the other.
I represented a client who told me he was shooting dice outside of a Philadelphia bar when he won all the money from a fellow who had gambled late outside the bar.

My guy was arrested within hours of the dice game after the loser reported his money loss to the police, claiming the defendant stole it from him.

I was able to get the police report, and it showed there was more than an hour delay from when the alleged crime took place and the actual call to the police. Most crimes are reported immediately after they have occurred.

The so-called victim testified that he had not reported the incident until getting home and telling his wife that he did not have the money they needed because he had been robbed. It wasn’t until his wife insisted that he contact authorities about the theft that he eventually placed the call to the police.

I called my client to the witness stand and asked no questions. But I also directed him to roll down a sleeve of his shirt. He slowly rolled down the shirt sleeve, exposing a colorful tattoo of two dice—a five and a two—which made up the winning roll of a seven.

The witness denied losing the cash by shooting dice but admitted, under cross-examination, to being in the bar, a place he often frequented. However, he was unable to account for his delay in reporting his story.

I then “published” my really tall and muscular client to the jury by having him stand and walk over to the jury box for the jurors to get a good look at his tattoo.

That tattoo became the winner when the jury deliberated and rendered their “Not Guilty” verdict. They disbelieved the victim and accepted my analysis of the incident, particularly after I told them the story of “Stagger Lee” and recited a few of the song’s verses.

It was the right thing to do, and I was surprised and filled with joy upon leaving the courtroom after the verdict as the judge, James Lineberger, one of my favorite jurists, said to me, “Go Stagger Lee, Go!”