Chandler Robinson Muller

MULLER, CHANDLER , died August 27, 2012, exactly as he had lived - surrounded by love, deeply committed to his faith, and with grace and good humor. He was first of all, a person of profound and constant faith, an inspiration to his many friends. He loved his wife Judy and all of his family deeply, and he was passionately committed to his profession. Chan practiced law for forty-four years, specializing in criminal defense. He cared deeply about our system of justice, the right of every accused person to a fair trial, and believed no person was beyond redemption. Chan's considerable skills as a trial attorney were matched by his professionalism and dedication to public service. He was a Fellow of the American College of Trial Attorneys, a recipient of the Orange County Bar Association's Professionalism Award, received the Jefferson Award for public service, was a past member of the Florida Bar Board of Governors, and was past President of the Orange County Bar Association. Among the many professional associations to which he belonged, Chan was a member of the American Bar Association, The Florida Bar, the Florida and Orange County Bar Associations of Criminal Defense Attorneys and the Florida Bar's Special Commission to Study the Death Penalty. He was a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, listed in the Best Lawyers in America, and a Super Lawyer of Florida. He was very proud to have been a founding member of the Florida Lawyers' Assistance Program. He was also the first lawyer in the Florida to raise the battered-wife syndrome as a defense. Chan lived to serve others. Up until the time of his death, he made quarterly contributions to the Inmate Account of a person on death row whom he had represented pro bono more than thirty years ago, and who had no resources otherwise.

Chan was born October 7, 1943, in Denver, Colorado to Walter J. and Marjory R. Muller. He moved to Winter Park in 1952, and graduated from Winter Park High School in 1961. He received his Bachelor's from the University of North Carolina and his law degree from the University of Florida College of Law in 1968. He married his wife Judy Howerton Muller in 1966, and they celebrated their forty-seventh anniversary on August 12, 2012. Chan was a proud Eagle Scout and lettered as a member of the U.N.C. Lacrosse Team. He loved the outdoors, hunting and scuba diving. He was an active member of All Saints' Episcopal Church for more than fifty years, and served as a member of the Vestry and as a Eucharistic Minister, delivering the sacrament of Communion to the sick and hospitalized. In addition to his wife Judy, Chan is survived by his son Joshua Jordan Muller; his daughter Laura Muller Subin, her husband, Ben Subin, and their children William Chandler Subin and Alexander Emery Subin; his brother Dr. Walter J. Muller III (Delle); his bother-in-law Jim Mairs; sister-in-law Linda H. Little (Dr. Robert) and many nieces and nephews. A Memorial Service will be held on Thursday, August 30, 2012, at All Saints Episcopal Church at 11AM. In lieu flowers, the family respectfully requests those wishing to remember Chan make a memorial donation instead to All Saints Church, 338 East Lyman Avenue, Winter Park, FL 32789.

Chandler Muller: Winter Park lawyer represented powerful, gave to poor
By Rene Stutzman, Orlando Sentinel
10:04 p.m. EST, August 28, 2012

     Chandler Muller, one of Central Florida's most sought-after and successful criminal defense lawyers, knew he was dying. His client list included the powerful and wealthy – doctors, lawyers and judges – but in his final weeks, he gave away his business suits to the Public Defender's Office.
     He had worked there decades ago and wanted poor people to have decent clothes to wear to court.
"He was a very kind human being who … did things without ever drawing attention to himself," said former law partner Warren Lindsey.
     Muller, 68, died Monday of pancreatic cancer. A memorial service is scheduled for Thursday at 11 a.m. at All Saints Episcopal Church in Winter Park.
     Muller was one of the most respected criminal defense attorneys in Central Florida.
     "I would put him in the top 1 percent of defense lawyers in the state," said Senior Judge O.H. Eaton Jr.
     "He was smart and creative," said former partner Mike Snure. "Whenever we had a case where every way out was a dead end, he would invent, through his creativity, a way to get out."
He convinced the Orange County State Attorney's Office and a judge that a physician who tried to hire a hitman deserved no more than one year of house arrest and nine years of probation. He convinced a Volusia County jury that a woman who claimed her psychiatrist repeatedly had sex with her during therapy had framed him by going through his trash and retrieving his DNA.
     He persuaded a father to turn in his teenage son after a fatal car crash that before the boy's admission, had stymied police.
     "He felt that what he did was a calling, by protecting those who are charged with serious crimes and unpopular crimes," said partner Tom Sommerville.
     In 1961 Muller graduated from Winter Park High School, where he played football and served as pulling guard for the running back who later became Circuit Judge C. Jeffery Arnold.
     "He opened many holes for me," Arnold remembered Tuesday. "It's a huge loss to all of us in the legal community that he has passed on.
     Muller practiced law for 44 years. He continued going to court until April, when he collapsed during a hearing in Viera and had to be taken to the hospital. He was a religious man, friends said, who loved pranks and jokes and was endlessly patient.
     For 20 years, he and his wife, Judy, performed the sacrament of communion for the sick and hospitalized.
     Muller was morally opposed to the death penalty and for 15 years worked without pay to get an Orange County man off death row.
     The dying mother of another death-row inmate begged him to make sure that her son always had the essentials that he needed.
     Muller made sure the man always had money in his prison canteen account, said Judy Muller, his wife of 47 years.
     "I knew because I wrote the checks."
     Muller also is survived by one son, Joshua Muller of Alachua; one daughter, Laura Muller Subin of Winter Park; one brother, Walter Joseph Muller III of Winter Park; and two grandsons.

IN SUMMARY:

David Smith

Here is a summary of Chan's memorial:

...it was packed with over flow into the parish hall. We sat next to Chip Schram and an ex-All Saints minister and his wife. They said there might have been 650 people. I told Judy it was a beautiful service. I asked if Chan helped plan the service. She said,"Chan planned it all." The hymns and solos were wonderful: The Lords Prayer (soloed by a young black gentleman with a beautiful voice), Ave Maria (same guy), For All the Saints, The servant song, I Am the Bread of Life, Seek Ye First, Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones...etc. All Chan's picks. Wonderful...Joe, his brother, read the Epistle...a partner spoke...a lady judge read CS Lewis (one of Chan's favorite authors)....The Homily by Rev Lord spoke of Chan's radiant persona and forgiving spirit. He mentioned Chan recently told of his love for Neil Young's song: When God Made Me (which I will try to post). Old WPHS friends were there: Chip, John Cash, Bob Finfrock, Pat Phillips, Max Morris, Marcia Gruber, Tom Lawton plus even Emory friends who were Chan's too. Josh and Laura looked great. They are 35 and 44, can't believe it. Told Josh he was an acorn that didn't fall far from the tree...look like Chan with that big smile. If I think of more I'll post it.