The Public Defender

A powerful plea for justice. The scales weigh the balance-on one side "Justice for the Rich"-on the other side "Ignominy for the poor." On which side will it balance?

The Public Defender — Plot

When bank president Leslie Morrison dips into the till, he seeks to place the blame on bank clerk David Moulton by altering the figures in Moulton's books. He lays his plan carefully, but upon leaving the building late one night, Morrison falls into an elevator shaft and is killed. Moulton, the one man known to have been there, is charged with murder and tried by district attorney Robert Murdock. Unable to afford a competent defense, Moulton is convicted and sentenced to die in an electric chair. However, Mary Reed, a stenographer who loves Moulton, appeals as a last resort to the newly elected public defender, Arthur Nelson. Nelson investigates the case and discovers evidence on the very eve of the execution, evidence that will warrant a stay. Rescued from death in the nick of time, Moulton is granted a new trial under the supervision of the public defender and is found innocent.

• Release date
• November 3, 1917
• Runtime
• 60 min
• Genres
• Drama, Crime
• Director
• Burton L. King

The Public Defender — Cast

Frank Keenan Robert Murdock Alma Hanlon Mary Reed Robert Edeson Arthur Nelson John St. Polis David Moulton

F

Florence Short Rose Moulton

L

Louis Stern Leslie Morrison

T

Tex La Grove Walter Holmes

H

Harry Kingsley Arthur Stevens