The law office of Raúl Recoba is located on Calle Ocho across from a liquor store and above a discount beauty-supply store. Here, the sidewalks are stained dark with discarded gum and cortaditos. Recoba works inside a small, clean room down a long, white hallway. His window provides a sweeping view of Little Havana, obscured only by pigeons pacing the sill.

Recoba is not one of South Florida’s highest-powered attorneys. In fact, the 41-year-old Uruguayan joined the Florida Bar only three years ago. But he has already been tasked with handling one of the state’s most headline-grabbing cases: the upcoming murder trial of porn star John Snavely, better-known as Champ.

It’s a tall order. Snavely’s fingerprints and DNA were found at the scene of the crime. Detectives even claim he confessed. But Recoba says that the police work has been sloppy and that his client is innocent. “They are choosing the path of least resistance and John is the only guy that they have,” he says. “Is that justice?”

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