Defense attorneys 'disappointed' after Kilpatrick trial verdict - Los Angeles Local News, Weather, and Traffic

Defense attorneys Jim Thomas and Mike Rataj appeared to be devastated when we spoke to them after the verdict was announced Monday in the Kilpatrick incorporated trial.

Here is some of what the lawyers had to say:

"Anytime you put your heart and soul into something and you come up short, it's an empty feeling," said Bobby Ferguson's attorney Rataj.  "So we're disappointed.  I don't lose very often, and I don't take losing very well."

"Obviously you put this much time into a case, you get disappointed if the jury comes back and doesn't affirm what it is that you thought," said Kwame Kilpatrick's attorney Thomas.  "We cannot argue with the fact that they spent a great deal of time deliberating, that it appears as if they were methodical in going through the evidence.  There seems to be some logic to what it is that they did, although I don't agree with it.  And so I guess it will unfold over time on what our approach will be on sentencing and then on appeal."

"Bobby's a tough guy," Rataj said.  "He's a spiritual guy, and he's relying on his faith right now, and his faith will carry him through.  But he's still optimistic, and he's still positive."

"Obviously, he's a pretty strong individual, and he doesn't show his emotions very easily," Thomas said about Kilpatrick.  "A thing like this is obviously going to affect him.  It certainly affected us."