Jay Simmons is one of the new Federal Public Defenders at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
History
Swearing-in Ceremony
On the day he was set to be sworn in as a new FPD, Jay arrived at the courthouse early and joined Kate and Sandra, who were already there waiting. He quickly upset Kate by eating a breakfast taco, which she said wasn't allowed. They were steadily joined by the other new attorneys. At eight, Leonard Knox came in and walked into the courtroom, despite Kate Littlejohn informing him that Sandra had arrived there first to wait. Inside the courtroom, Tina Krissman introduced herself and had the two sides sit on opposite sides, knowing they wouldn't want to sit together. She then explained to them what would be happening and introduced Nicholas Byrne, who gave a speech about their work and swore them all in.[1]
First Case
After meeting Jill Carlan, Jay was assigned his first case. It was a fraud case and he decided to talk to and trust his client instead of what the file said. He met with Adam Dyle and then argued in court to get his bail lowered so he could care for his terminally ill twin brother. He was shocked to learn that Adam wasn't actually his real name, nor did he have a twin brother. The request was denied. When Jay met with Adam again, Adam said he was disappointed and kept up the con act, convincing Jay that he really believed he was part of a secret government organization. Jay went to Kate with this, but she showed him a video of Adam in jail talking on the phone to someone about getting his attorney to believe everything. After this realization, Jay and Kate came to a deal for a 64-month jail sentence.[2]
Carl Wayne Clarke
After his loss in his first class, Jill called Jay into her office to make sure he was up for the job of defending Carl Wayne Clarke. He insisted that he could do it and he was all in. After meeting Clarke, a Nazi accused of shooting Assemblywoman McCray, he went back to Jill to question having to defend someone so openly hateful. She told him it wasn't his job to judge him, just defend him. Jay initially wanted to use make-up to clean up Clarke's face for the jury, but ultimately decided to let him go as he was, realizing that while Clarke looked like the kind of person to shoot McCray, there was reasonable doubt among the prosecution's case. The jury returned a not-guilty verdict. Jay went home and told his father about it, not feeling quite right with having defended a Nazi. His father told him a story of one of his mother's cousins, who was imprisoned without a trial and told him he had won the trial because he had a trial to win.[3]
Chloe Daniels
Chloe Daniels was arrested for attacking a mailman. Because there was a chance he could die, Jill took the case and had Sandra, Jay, and Allison assist. They quickly became suspicious of Chloe when holes appeared in her story, but Jill believed Chloe didn't attack him with an intent to kill him. She continued to look for answers and eventually got a diagnosis of CTE for Chloe. The prosecution agreed to deferred prosecution in her case.[4]
Rodrigo Puente
Jay was assigned to defend Rodrigo Puente, who was accused of drug trafficking because he'd been found with 57 grams of meth in his backpack. He was subject to a mandatory minimum of ten years in federal prison. When Judge Byrne heard the case, he said he didn't like it and wouldn't sentence Rodrigo to ten years, the mandatory minimum. He sent Seth back to reconsider the charges. When Seth came back with the same case, Byrne asked to meet with Roger. He couldn't convince Roger to budge either, so he said he'd instruct the jury about the mandatory minimum. To prevent that, Seth filed a writ. The jury ultimately returned a guilty verdict and after giving a speech, Byrne reluctantly sentenced Rodrigo to the minimum ten years.[5]
Personality
Relationships
Romantic
Familial
Friendship
Tina Krissman
He's known Tina Krissman for years. When they met, he was a dope-smoking bike messenger and she pushed him to become a lawyer.[6]
Professional
Jill Carlan
Jill is the Federal Public Defender overseeing the newest lawyers in her department.
Career
Jay is a federal public defender.
Notes and Trivia
Gallery
|
A more complete gallery with pictures of Jay Simmons can be found here. |
Notable Episodes
These episodes are Jay-centric or are otherwise very informative about his life:
Memorable Quotes
Appearances
| For the People, Season 1 | |||
| #01 | "Pilot" | #06 | "Everybody's a Superhero" |
| #02 | "Rahowa" | #07 | "Have You Met Leonard Knox?" |
| #03 | "18 Miles Outside of Roanoke" | #08 | "Flippity-Flop" |
| #04 | "The Library Fountain" | #09 | "Extraordinary Circumstances" |
| #05 | "World's Greatest Judge" | #10 | "This is What I Wanted to Say" |
| For the People, Season 2 | |||
| #01 | "First Inning" | #06 | "You Belong Here" |
| #02 | "This is America" | #07 | "The Boxer" |
| #03 | "Minimum Continuing Legal Education" | #08 | "Moral Suasion" |
| #04 | "The Vast, Immovable Object" | #09 | "Who Are We Now?" |
| #05 | "One Big Happy Family" | #10 | "A Choice Between Two Things" |