Tampa Tribune - 8/16/06
TAMPA - Sixteen years ago, Brian Donerly stood on the steps of the Hillsborough County Courthouse to speak with reporters.
His client, Newton Slawson, had just been sentenced to death for murdering a family of four, then cutting open the mother and killing her unborn child.
Donerly remarked to a St. Petersburg Times reporter, Slawson "is, except for probably 90 seconds of his life, not that bad a guy."
It was like him to see the good even in the most vile of human beings.
Donerly, a veteran defense lawyer best known for his work on capital murder cases, died Tuesday morning following a brief battle with leukemia.
He was 60.
"He just had such a passion for defense work," his wife, Barbara, said Tuesday afternoon. "He wanted to ensure that everyone, regardless of their ability to pay, had the fair trial they were entitled to."
Donerly's law colleagues said he had an amazing grasp of the law. Many lawyers tapped that knowledge when they ran into tricky legal questions.
"If I had a legal question, first thing I'd do is call Donerly," said Hillsborough County State Attorney Mark Ober. "Judges relied on his legal acumen and lawyers did, too."
In the courtroom, Donerly was known as a passionate advocate for the worst offenders.
Craig Alldredge, a longtime friend and fellow lawyer, said Donerly tried about 45 first-degree murder cases in Hillsborough County during his nearly 30 years practicing law.
Of those defendants, only Slawson has been executed, and he called off his appeals and volunteered to be killed.
Even then, Donerly didn't give up on trying to save his life.
"At the eleventh hour, he was faxing a letter to the governor asking him to postpone the execution for a psychological evaluation," Alldredge said. "He was a very tenacious lawyer, indeed."
Donerly began practicing law in 1976 when he was hired by the Hillsborough County Public Defender's Office.
He left the office in 1990 to join the firm of renowned Tampa lawyer Barry Cohen. Donerly spent a few years in private practice before joining the Pinellas County Public Defender's Office in 2000.
He was on medical leave from the Pinellas office when he died. His latest assignment was to train young misdemeanor lawyers.
"They would call him all night long, like 11 or 12 o'clock at night on Saturdays and Sundays," said Bob Dillinger, chief public defender in Pinellas County. "He always wanted to talk."
After he received the grim diagnosis on July 3, Donerly had a few goals. One of them was to climb his favorite mountain one last time.
Donerly and his family traveled to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where they made the 8-mile hike up Charlie's Bunion.
"It was a little slower than normal," his wife said. "But he had a goal and a mission and a determination that, dammit, he was going to do this and he did."
BORN: Sept. 17, 1945 in New Jersey
DIED: Aug. 15, 2006 in Tampa
SURVIVORS: His wife of 20 years, Barbara, of Temple Terrace; a son, John Donerly, 14, of Temple Terrace; a sister, Lynn Sheppard of New Jersey.
SERVICES: Not finalized. Arrangements are being handled by the Terrace Oaks Funeral Home in Temple Terrace.