Warning: Read All My Trials in a private place, unless you don’t care if others catch you laughing out loud. This collection of very funny and true stories about criminal trial law chronicles some of the legendary experiences of Alaskan Superior Court Judge Gail Roy Fraties. A fine judge and legal scholar, as a criminal trial attorney, a profession that grew characters by the dozen, he was a character. His license plate read “BAD”. In trial, he had a Bowie Knife strapped across his chest…just in case. He once blew out the bottom out of his boat dispatching a 60-pound Halibut with a .44 magnum. He killed a snake from a second story with a throwing knife. And this was him sober; his drinking stories about the Alaskan Bar Association are even more irreverent and hilarious.
Hiding amid the black humor and sardonic cynicism was his other side – intelligent, warm, and caring. He would lock a drunk up for three months instead of two weeks if winter was coming on. About the indigent he said “If we don’t care for them, who will?” and meant it. He was the legal advocate for midwives all over the United States - he believed in their just cause. He started a whole chain of AA chapters in Alaska as part of his sentencing program. A Stanford graduate, a literary man, a voracious reader, a man who lived life on his own terms and wrote all the pages of his own book – every side of Gail Fraties appears here.
Our recommendation: read through this book once and then read it again. Each time, somewhere in it, you will stop, think and laugh again.
You are very lucky. You’re about to enjoy a treat and a great read!.
