F. Lee Bailey
and I were trying a case in Tampa for an Olympic class
shot putter whose career was destroyed when the bench
press bar broke while loaded with over four hundred
pounds of weight. Recently retired Chief Justice of the
Florida Supreme Court, Hal Dekle, a brilliant student of
the law and long time friend since his days as a circuit
judge in Miami, read about the trial while visiting in
Tampa and stopped by the court room to say hello. We had
dinner a few nights later and he asked if I had an
interest in co-authoring the original edition of Florida
Trial Evidence as a fun venture the two of us could do
together. I was flattered and naturally accepted the
challenge. The book and successive editions, plus
student editions, were published by McGraw-Hill and to
our surprise and delight, sold thousands of copies and
until computers took over the task, was relied on by
lawyers and judges throughout Florida as the handbook of
trial evidence. My friend, Justice Dekle, has since
passed on, leaving an enviable legacy, this fraction of
which I was honored to share.
