Washington and Lee University School of Law

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The Richmond, Va., criminal defense attorney and Naval Reservist, who was called to duty in 2007 and served as part of a team monitoring detainee operations in Iraq, has been assigned to defend Khalid Shiekh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks.

"I don't think it's possible for Mohammed to get a fair trial under the military commissions," says Prince, calling it a flawed system that abandons constitutional principles for the sake of convenience. "If this guy is as bad as they say he is, then they ought to be able to convict him the right way."

Mohammed has admitted to planning every aspect of the Sept. 11 attacks, but his confession may be tainted by the CIA's admission it subjected him to so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques," including simulated drowning, known as waterboarding, and widely viewed as violating the Geneva Convention's ban on torture.

"Every deputy sheriff from Skunk Holler knows that if you rough somebody up before they give a statement, you can't take that information to trial," adds Prince.

Faced with what is clearly the biggest case of his life, Prince is calm and confident. A 20-year career defending alleged robbers, rapists and murderers has prepared him for representing one of the most notorious men alive.

The Rule of Law

Prince, a father of three who goes by "Scott," found his niche in criminal law during his second year at Washington and Lee Law School. With a B.A. from Davidson College and M.S. in clinical psychology from Radford University, Prince pondered a career in legal academia, but that changed when he took a trial advocacy class.

"I just fell in love with courtroom law during that course and knew that's what I wanted to do," says Prince. He later interviewed with the Navy Judge Advocate General's office and after graduation accepted a four-year active duty commission, specializing in criminal defense. After leaving the service, Prince established a private practice in Richmond focused on criminal defense and the more lucrative family law, as he says "to support his criminal law habit."

He credits W&L's professional responsibility course, led by former W&L professor Thomas Shaffer, with preparing him for defending those usually despised by society. The course, he says, was taught with an eye toward "thinking how your hero would handle ethical dilemmas or difficult situations. How would Atticus Finch handle this? Or Thomas More in A Man for All Seasons?"

"Our government is the most powerful force on the face of the earth," explains Prince. "It can take away your family, it can take away your property, it can take away your life. Everyone deserves to stand on equal footing before the government and deserves to have an attorney who will make the government do its job."

Recalled to active duty as a Rule of Law officer in Iraq, Prince helped oversee detention operations, interviewing over 600 detainees in the process. He witnessed how the Americans' reputations improved when the detainees were treated fairly and humanely. By contrast, he was the first advocate to meet with Mohammed after five years in custody. Mohammed has accepted Prince as his defense attorney, for now.

Prince, who has participated in, but never led, a capital murder trial, acknowledges that difficult and uncertain times lie ahead. He will begin assembling his legal team, consisting of another military attorney, two civilian attorneys, an intelligence analyst and a paralegal. The American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers have also teamed up to find volunteers to help Prince.