In the season finale, Chris and Alison talk to  Alan Chipperfield, Capital Crimes Director at the the Public Defender's Office in Jacksonville, Florida.  Al graduated from Washington and Lee and has been practicing law for 45 years: the vast majority of that spent defending people charged with murder and who face the death penalty.  He also served as the Chief Assistant Public Defender for the 8th Judicial Circuit and has practiced civil law. 

We discuss why a lawyer who could do anything would choose to devote his career to representing people facing capital punishment.  We also hear about specific traumatic events in some of Al's clients' backgrounds and discuss broad policy questions about the criminal justice system.

These conversations are not appropriate for children. People with their own traumatic histories should be aware that we discuss violent crimes, exploitation, sexual trauma, child abuse, and incarceration.