Longtime Merced public defender Paul Lyon retires

A longtime public defender who retired this month from Merced County said he prided himself on pushing back against government forces he said are given too much leeway.

Paul Lyon, 63, who spent the past 10 years of his career in Merced County, said public defenders play an important role in supporting the Constitution.

“Every trial is a victory for the Constitution,” he said. “They’re victories for the defense of people’s rights and standing up to the government and not letting them put as many people away as they want to.”

If Lyon were a quarterback, he would be finishing his career with a winning record in the courtroom. But it’s not the numbers that are impressive, according to fellow public defender Chris Loethen, it was his willingness to take cases to trial.

“That’s what it boils down to, honestly. He had guts and brains,” Loethen said. “(He’s) dismantling a bomb, knowing which bombs could be dismantled (and) how to do it.”

Loethen said the easy thing to do would be to take a plea bargain, but Lyon knew when going to trial was the right thing to do for his client. It’s not easy to have to question someone during a trial who claims to be a victim, he said.

Perhaps the most recent example was when Lyon successfully defended Hector M. Oseguera-Barajas, who was acquitted in July after killing his brother-in-law in Planada. Lyon argued that the shooting was an act of self-defense, and the jury agreed. It was the first time in eight years that the Merced County District Attorney’s Office has lost a murder trial in which the defendant was acquitted of all charges.

A native of Los Angeles, Lyon attended law school at the University of Arizona. His first job was as a law clerk for the U.S. attorney’s office in Tucson, he said.

Something of a Renaissance man, he once worked as an arts critic. He’s written the book of poetry “Whispering Beans” and the novel “From Under God’s Wing,” about a boy who survived the Alamo.

He even read some of his poetry in Las Vegas alongside poet Allen Ginsberg.

After law school, Lyon served as a public defender and a legal aide in Washington State Prison in Walla Walla, Wash. He represented one of the two men called the Hillside Strangler, Ken Bianchi, who was convicted of murdering and raping 10 women. Lyon represented him after those convictions, he said, when Bianchi was looking to be granted conjugal visit rights.

In the 1990s, Lyon started working in the Fresno County Public Defender’s Office, where he stayed more than a dozen years before settling in Merced in 2007.

Matt Serratto, a deputy district attorney, said he’s known Lyon for close to a decade. He described Lyon as a smart, formidable opponent and thorough. “He’s interesting, got lots of great stories,” Serratto said. “He’s funny, got a real dry sense of humor.”

Lyon said he’s seen a number of “wild” moments in the courtroom, from witnesses yelling at him as they left the room to witnesses admitting to actions they thought they’d be able to keep secret.

In a courtroom, the district attorney is said to represent the people. Lyon said he’s often thought it should be the other way around, as public defenders are protecting people’s rights.

“I wanted to stand between the government and the people,” he said.

This story was originally published March 29, 2016 at 6:49 PM with the headline "Longtime Merced public defender Paul Lyon retires."