Lolly
asked:
Why did Roulet pick Haller as his attorney? Haller "railroaded" Menendez into pleading guilty even though he was innocent. I understand the connection btw Roulet and Menendez, but I didn't feel this explained Roulet's pick of Haller. I also understand all that Roulet did between the Menendez conviction and the Campo attack to keep tabs on Haller. Why would Roulet think he was a good attorney or would get him off?
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Maria Rose
Roulet knew that Haller had defended Menendez, and by making him accept the guilty plea for the crime he never committed, Roulet wanted to maintain a hold over Haller, in case Haller found out, which he did. What Roulet wasn't expecting was the strong moral standard that Haller had when he realized that he let an innocent man go to jail, while the actual criminal was right in front of him, flaunting how he was going to get away with murder once more.
Stuart Scadron-Wattles
Roulet’s choice is not explained by the narrator of the book. It fits the writer’s need, though, since the Menendez case result neatly covered Roulet’s role in the murder, and Roulet is the narrator’s downfall: Haller is not so sure he could identify a truly innocent defendant, and is deceived into doing so by Roulet, someone he later describes as pure evil. It also makes sense that, as he is a serial killer, Roulet gets more and more of a thrill from edging closer to being discovered, and would draw great pleasure from manipulating the lawyer who persuaded someone else to go down for Roulet’s crime to get a verdict of innocent for Roulet.
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