Based on merely the written motions and some peripheral behavior by James Harr there has been a lot of derogatory material written and said about him. After actually reading the transcripts, though, I no longer doubt that he was doing a conscientious and competent job under difficult circumstances. I have to revise my previous opinion based on transcripts in which he did a good job within intolerable restraints set by the court. Harr filed a number of motions to withdraw during the course of the proceedings and this is largely the basis for my prejudicial opinion. Willing or not, from the transcript already posted I think I was premature in reaching some less than flattering conclusions, and I don't think he was given a fair shake by the court in pretrial proceedings or in public opinion after the trial. My impression of his situation is that he was forced to be a lawyer in what was essentially a show trial, while not getting paid for it, and to lend a veneer of authenticity to a "we'll give him a fair trial and then hang him" type of trial. This isn't anything any lawyer wants to be involved in. Beyond his performance at trial, which I think was good, and far better than generally expected of court-mandated counsel, he also did a lot of post-trial support in the area above and beyond what he was obligated to do. In retrospect, a lot of factors combined to create a worst-case scenario for Henson's trial, a lot Scientology-manufactured, some tactical errors of Henson, some errors of the court, but incompetent counsel was not one of these, though Harr had his hands effectively tied, greatly hindering his effectiveness. Within the intolerable restraints the court hobbled him with, he did admirably, and I believe I did him a disservice in any scathing comments I might have made. On reading the transcripts to date, I think the trial was both better and worse than I originally thought. Wallerstein is less nakedly biased than I imagined, while Schwarz is even sleazier than his written motions would have led me to believe. ptsc