Being accused shaped attorney

More than 25 years ago, Bryson killed a man during a fight at a hotel lounge in Casper, Wyo. The killing took place years before Bryson, a well-known criminal and civil attorney, practiced law. At the time, he was a trumpet player and lead singer in a band that was playing in Casper.

The fight, which took less than a minute, changed his life.

“Up until that point, I had essentially been a happy-go-lucky type of guy who didn’t take things too seriously,” Bryson said. “But when something like this happens, then it really shapes you.”

Bryson is one of the attorneys representing Simpson’s co-defendant, Clarence “C.J.” Stewart. Simpson, 61, and Stewart, 54, face kidnapping, armed robbery and other charges in connection with what authorities allege was a robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers at Palace Station in September 2007.

Opening statements in the trial are scheduled to start today.

Stewart deserves a second chance, said Bryson, who got his own second chance when a jury acquitted him of manslaughter in 1983. Bryson was asked by lead defense attorney Robert Lucherini to help defend Stewart.

Bryson, 51, has been a lawyer in Las Vegas since 1993. He’s built a law practice on defending the people who he calls “the little guy.” He’s defended people accused of murder, sexual assault and robbery, among other things, and is widely known for taking police brutality cases.

He’s defending 19-year-old Ezekiel Williams, who along with Gerald Q. Davison is facing murder charges in connection with the drive-by shooting at Palo Verde High School in February that left freshman Christopher Privett dead.

But Bryson wasn’t always interested in the law. Until he was arrested in the 1982 death of 30-year-old Roche Boyles, a postal worker, Bryson planned on making a living as a professional musician. He had the talent, having played professional gigs as early as age 14.

But after the slaying and his later acquittal, his passion for music withered. He eventually got a degree from Whittier Law School in California and chose to practice law.

“I felt like I had a debt to repay,” Bryson said. “I’m not a martyr. I’m proof that under the right circumstances the justice system works.”

Bryson still gets choked up when he speaks about the bar fight. Not known as an overtly emotional man, Bryson teared up when he talked about testifying on the stand in his trial.

“This is a tough thing,” he said, blotting tears from his eyes with a tissue in his Las Vegas office.

On Aug. 27, 1982, Bryson and his jazz and R&B band, Caliente, was playing at a Hilton in Casper. After the first set, a woman in the audience called Bryson over to sit with her and her sister. Bryson joined them and unwittingly sat in a seat belonging to Boyles, who had stepped away.

When Boyles returned to the table the two men, who had never met before that night, got into a fight over the seat. Bryson said Boyles swung at him with a beer bottle. Bryson had a wine glass in his hand, and they wrestled, he said.

While fighting, Bryson realized he was covered in blood. He believed Boyles had gutted him. The blood, it turned out, belonged to Boyles, whose throat was cut during the fight. Prosecutors believed that it was Bryson’s wine glass that caused the injury.

Bryson said he surged with adrenaline, pinned Boyles against a couch and began punching him repeatedly while shouting, “I’m going to kill you, you (expletive)!”

Bryson now says he made the threats in the heat of the moment and never intended to take the man’s life.

His version of events is supported by news reports from the Casper Star-Tribune newspaper, which reported on the fight and trial.

Authorities arrived at the hotel, rushed Boyles to the hospital and booked Bryson into the local jail on aggravated assault. When Boyles died 22 hours after the fight, police held Bryson on suspicion of second-degree murder. The local district attorney’s office later charged him with manslaughter.

Bryson spent four days in the jail before he was released on $10,000 bond. He returned to his family in Tucson, Ariz., to wait for the trial.

The trial, in 1983, lasted several days. On the third day, Bryson testified for about 11/2 hours. At one point, he broke down sobbing and had to take a break.

“I cried like a little baby,” Bryson said.

He told jurors, among other things, that he was defending himself and reacted aggressively when he believed he had been stabbed.

After deliberating for nine hours, the jury found him not guilty.

It should have been a moment of great relief. He was a free man, and he believed God granted him another chance. He vowed to make the world a better place. But he said the slaying and trial changed him. The innocence and hope he once felt was no longer there.

“It’s like someone turned off the power switch, and I could feel the brightness in my eyes close off, as if someone pulled a circuit,” he said. “I never got it back.”

The fight, which Bryson estimated took about 45 seconds, haunts him to this day. He said he still replays the incident in his mind and wonders whether there was something he could have done differently.

“There’s no winners here. Everybody’s a loser,” he said. “You think I’m a winner because I was acquitted? No way.”

Contact reporter David Kihara at dkihara @reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.