Miguel Hernandez has turned 50 years of practicing law into a feel-good book.

His story reads like a novel or an old-fashioned movie about gentlemen with hearts of gold. While The Lucky Lawyer: Dreams of Hope and Justice, published in 2023, is a work of nonfiction, everything about the author, Miguel A. Hernandez – his appearance, his office, his big happy family – seems like a fantasy, except for his demanding and emotionally difficult job. Hernandez has been serving as a defense attorney, starting out as a public defender, in Monterey County for almost 50 years. He has defended the driver in a car shooting accused of second-degree murder, drug addicts, robbers and a man who was charged with attempted first-degree murder.

The building he eventually bought and where he and his son keep offices is one of the last Victorian houses in Salinas, built in 1896 and dressed in blue flounces of gables. The interior is dominated by polished, warm brown wood and small lamps with long fringes.

His cabinet shines with the golden spines of books, endless columns of law sets bound with leather. Hernandez is a person who looks you in the eyes with great curiosity and kindness. Instead of trying to deal with the global questions of hope and justice, Hernandez spent years seeking justice and giving hope to people around him – families of people charged with DUIs or belonging to gangs. Hernandez had more free time during Covid and gathered those stories in the above-mentioned book that gives readers a good and deep look into the local practice of law.

Weekly: You have a nice office here.

Hernandez: It’s very close to the courthouse. I walk there and back here every day.

They say there are three types of lawyers: Sharks that use law as a stepping stone to politics, people who do it for the money and…

Oh no, that’s not for me. My clients see it as soon as they come here; I’m a softie. When I started I was conservative and after college I joined the Air Force, but that was before I had crying mothers in my office. Fortunately, I didn’t end up in Vietnam, even though I thought I would be drafted. They wanted me to learn Mandarin Chinese. Instead of Vietnam, I was sent to Texas to learn radio transmission and then I went to Japan for two years. But I didn’t like to be owned.

The title of your book indicates that you consider yourself lucky.

I feel very lucky. I stumbled into being a lawyer. Just like I was lucky to not go to Vietnam.

I feel that many of my victories in court, when the odds were against us, were a matter of luck. But the book is not about myself, but the cases I handled. I didn’t put lost cases in the book, but those I remember because of the happiness they brought because of their outcomes. I called them little miracles. I remember them well because I retold these stories over and over again. It took me eight years to put them to paper. But it doesn’t mean I’m retiring.

What if you knew your client was guilty?

This is a common question. I’m not the judge. But if they tell me they did it, I will not put them on trial. That would be perjury, on both sides. But I’m not a prosecutor; I already found my place in the world. When I was young, I was for the death penalty. I was closed-minded. I’ve changed my position 100 percent.

What’s your take on the applicability of the U.S. Constitution to the modern law?

The only problem is the abuse of the interpretation. I was fascinated with the question if the Constitution is the law of the land or if the Supreme Court judges make and are the law of the land, since I was in eighth grade.

Right now, the Supreme Court is too political. But I have faith the Constitution will survive.

What do you think about justice in Monterey County?

Too many people are sent to prison. Politicians are wrong about how to handle crime. Instead of investing in prisons, they should help raise good citizens, help them become taxpayers.

Do you watch detective shows?

Old Perry Mason, a TV series from the late ’50s. They returned with a sequel, a year later with the same actor. He was the type who stood up for the right reason. I like police dramas or movies such as Judgment at Nuremberg. I also like The Lincoln Lawyer.

An author event and book signing with Miguel Hernandez takes place at 6-8pm Friday, May 3. Downtown Book & Sound, 213 Main St., Salinas. Free. 477-6700, downtownbookandsound.com.