The Silver State by Gabriel Urza, in conversation with Karla Nash, AD at Deschutes Defenders
Join author and former public defender Gabriel Urza and Karla Nash, Assistant Director at Deschutes Defenders, to discuss, The Silver State.
When a public defender receives a letter from a client on death row, he is forced to reexamine his role in the murder case he cannot shake; a gripping and thought-provoking legal thriller that redefines the genre.
What if justice isn’t something the legal system is truly capable of?
Law school graduate Santi Elcano’s idealism is wearing away by the cases and clients he’s assigned. When a young mother, Anna Weston, is brutally murdered and her body is found near Reno’s infamous silver mines, Santi and his mentor in the public defender’s office, C.J., are tasked with defending Michael Atwood, a man arrested for Anna’s murder on scant physical evidence.
Eight years later, a shocking letter from Atwood—now on death row—forces Santi to reexamine his role in the case. At the time, public obsession with Anna’s disappearance and intense pressure on the police to make an arrest led to a rushed trial. As they investigated the case, Santi and C.J. became increasingly convinced they were defending an innocent man. Now, a horrific discovery leads Santi to reconsider everything he once believed, and all that it has cost him—love, family, and friendship.
Illuminating the deals that get cut in the name of justice, The Silver State explores the murkiness between victim and perpetrator, and the cost of a life in the law. Turning the legal thriller on its head, Urza tells an electrifying, emotionally charged tale of systemic failure and moral ambiguity that asks: What if justice isn’t something the legal system is truly capable of? For readers of Scott Turow’s Presumed Innocent and Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy.
“A propulsive, hallucinatory, urgent novel. This book will haunt you.”
—Sierra Crane Murdoch, author of Yellow Bird
Gabriel Urza is the author of the novel All That Followed (Henry Holt & Co./MacMillan 2015), which was a New York Times Editor’s Choice, a Publishers Weekly “Best of Summer” selection, a Booklist Best Crime Fiction Debut, and garnered starred reviews from Kirkus and Publisher’s Weekly. He is also the author of the novellas The Last Supper (2021) and The White Death: An Illusion (2019), which was an Oregon Book Award finalist. His creative nonfiction has appeared in the New York Times, Salon, Slate, Politico, Travel + Leisure, and other publications. Gabriel is a professor of creative writing in the Portland State University Masters of Fine Arts program. He is also a former public defender and a licensed attorney who practices criminal defense in Nevada. He lives in Hood River, Oregon.
Karla Nash, attorney and Assistant Director at Deschutes Defenders, is pleased to join Gabriel Urza for a discussion about public defense. Originally from the San Francisco Bay area, Karla earned her B.A. in Political Science from U.C. Davis and her J.D. from University of Oregon. After law school, she began her practice with the Law Office of Terri Wood in Eugene. Karla moved to Bend, Oregon in 1998 when she joined Crabtree & Rahmsdorff, a public defenders’ office. Following the former director’s retirement the office was renamed Deschutes Defenders, a Public Defense Nonprofit. Karla has represented adults and children in criminal and delinquency systems from trespass cases to homicide. Her practice currently focuses on dependency (child welfare involved) cases. The role of public defense provider includes a blend of roles: warrior, counselor and reformer. When not working, Karla enjoys trail running, skate skiing, reading and spending time with family and friends.
Deschutes Defenders is a public defense nonprofit whose team of attorneys, investigators and staff represent our clients in criminal, juvenile, and mental health proceedings. Our organization and its predecessor have been providing indigent defense services to Deschutes County since 1981. We are located in the Historic Wright Building across from the courthouse in downtown Bend, Oregon.