Summary

• As seen in Love & Death, the real Don Crowder defended Candy Montgomery with audaciousness despite facing hate from the community.
• Crowder used unconventional strategies, including hypnosis and expert testimony, to win the trial.
• After the trial, Crowder faced public scrutiny, ran for Governor of Texas, and opened a sports bar before his untimely death by suicide.

This article contains mention of suicide and murder.

Candy Montgomery's lawyer, Don Crowder, was one of the most memorable characters in Love & Death, leading to a lot of curiosity about what happened to him after the events of the Max miniseries. As shown in Love & Death episode 5, titled "The Arrest," Candy Montgomery went to lawyer Don Crowder when the police started accumulating viable evidence that linked her with Betty Gore's murder and hired him as her defense attorney. Although Don Crowder had no experience with criminal trials at the time, the lawyer approached the case with unmatched audaciousness despite receiving a lot of hate from the community for defending Candy.

Portraying Don Crowder's intrepid demeanor in the court of law and empathy towards Candy Montgomery, Tom Pelphrey brilliantly plays the defense attorney in Love & Death. The Ozark star perfectly captures the personal trials and tribulations that Crowder had to face as a young lawyer while helping Candy win the trial. When it comes to depicting Crowder's methods, the Max series stays true to real-life events by showing how he purposefully misinformed reporters and used several other unconventional strategies to help Candy Montgomery defend her case and win the trial. This is true even until the events of Love & Death's ending.

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Don Crowder Helped Candy Montgomery Defend Her Case

Crowder Took Unusual Approaches To Finding Candy's Motivation During The Incident

As Love & Death portrays in episode 5, Don Crowder asked Candy Montgomery to take a polygraph test before the trial, which affirmed that she was not lying about her account of the events of the murder. With what followed, Crowder asked her to visit a psychiatrist named Dr. Fred Fason, who hypnotized her to help her recall her motives during the murder. After his session with Candy Montgomery (played by Elizabeth Olsen in Love & Death), Dr. Fason confirmed that Candy struck Betty Gore 41 times in self-defense because she had a dissociative reaction during the confrontation.

Crowder also brought Dr. Fason to the trial, where the psychiatrist testified that by asking Candy to "shush," Betty Gore triggered memories of a traumatic incident from Candy Montgomery's past and made her unleash a blinding bout of involuntary rage, which has been accurately depicted in Love & Death. Crowder's unorthodox methods and efforts to defend Candy eventually paid off when after a trial of eight days, the jury acquitted Candy Montgomery of the murder. While the case became a significant milestone in Don Crowder's legal career, many people reportedly (via Dallas Observer) questioned "how he could defend a criminal, a murderer."

Don Crowder Showed The Jury Candy Montgomery's Humanity

Crowder Used Expert Testimony And Candy's Own Words To Win The Case

Although Don Crowder had no experience tackling criminal trials prior to becoming the Candy Mongomery lawyer the press loved to lambast, he knew enough to figure out that swaying the jury would entail showing Candy Montgomery's humanity. When Dr. Fason testified that Candy had a dissociative reaction during which "a portion of her personality was split off from her consciousness," this served as the foundation for Don's self-defense plea. However, what really brought this plea home was Don coaching Candy about taking the stand.

From the questions Don asked Candy, to Candy being unable to even look at the axe, Don knew that the only path to winning was to remind everyone that Candy is just human. In the end, Don Crowder won the case by helping Candy Montgomery fully express her guilt and sorrow for what she did to Betty. Without Don, Candy could've never faced the court the way that she did.

Backed by the psychiatric analysis of Dr. Fason, which supported Candy's claim that she had no idea what she was doing, everything came together to unravel Candy's humanity in the courtroom. While it didn't convince the public that Candy is innocent, it was enough for the jury to acquit her of murder in Love & Death episode 7, "Ssssshh".

What Happened To Don Crowder After The Candy Montogomery Trial

The Public Scrutiny Towards Crowder Continued

Don Crowder's wife, Carol, recalled how "Don got death threats" after the trial, and people who they considered friends would even avoid sitting beside them during football games. However, the real Don Crowder did not let any of this hold him down. In 1986, he decided to run for Governor of Texas, and although he lost, he received 118,530 votes. Later, in 1991, Don Crowder also opened a sports bar called Gameday Sport Cafe.

Unfortunately, Crowder had to shut the business down after several complications took it to the brink of bankruptcy. His business' failure affected his mental health, and he grew even more disheartened when his brother, Barry, died in a tragic accident in 1997. On November 10, 1998, Don Crowder died from suicide at the age of 56. Before his untimely demise, he recalled the Candy Montgomery trial portrayed in Love & Death, claiming (via Dallas Observer) that it "was maybe the zenith of an extraordinarily successful career, or the demise of what could have been," but his friend Jim Mattox disagreed by acknowledging how "Don made his mark."

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  Love & Death

  Cast:

  Elizabeth Olsen, Jesse Plemons, Patrick Fugit, Lily Rabe, Keir Gilchrist, Elizabeth Marvel, Tom Pelphrey, Krysten Ritter

  Release Date:

  2023-04-27

  Seasons:

  1

  Main Genre:

  Crime

  Genres:

  Crime, Drama

  Website:

  https://www.hbomax.com/series/love-and-death

  Studio:

  David E. Kelley Productions, Blossom Films, Texas Monthly, Lionsgate Television

  Writers:

  David E. Kelley

  Network:

  HBO Max

  Streaming Service(s):

  HBO Max

  Directors:

  Lesli Linka Glatter

  Season List:

  Love & Death - Season 1