WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — David Freedman, a well-respected and accomplished criminal defense attorney based in Winston-Salem, died on Friday after being hospitalized with a COVID-19 breakthrough case. He was 64-years-old.
According to Rabbi Mark Cohn of Temple Emanuel in Winston-Salem, Freedman had received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccination.
"This was a breakthrough Delta COVID case. David was double-vaccinated, and a very firm believer in the vaccination. This was a severe case of the Delta variant," Cohn said. "David was a very strong guy, who worked out and played basketball and was in great shape. But the virus took its toll on his body."
Freedman is survived by his wife and four kids, Cohn said.
"He was such a kind, good-spirited, open-hearted individual. He adored his family," Cohn said. "He was also proud of the work he did as a lawyer, which supported a lot of people in difficult times."
According to the CDC, COVID-19 vaccinations are highly effective at preventing hospitalization and death, but are less effective against the Delta, Beta, and Gamma variants, compared to the Alpha variant.
Freedman is well-known in North Carolina and represented clients in high-profile cases. His long list of accolades includes a place in The Best Lawyers in America, listed in The Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, named in 2006 by Business North Carolina as the state's top criminal defense lawyer, and has been listed in Super Lawyers of North Carolina since 2006, according to his law firm's biography.
He served as president of the Forsyth County Bar Association, and he received the Harvey Lupton award from the Forsyth County Criminal Defense Trial Lawyers Association.
Freedman graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he received his undergraduate degree in 1979 and his J.D. in 1982. He taught criminal procedure and trial practice at the Wake Forest University School of Law for 15 years, and he has also lectured at Harvard Law School.
Freedman was involved in state and federal cases, include high-profile cases that garnered significant public attention. Since 2017, he was an attorney for Molly Corbett and Thomas Martens, working to help overturn their murder convictions and making way for a new trial.
Despite his professional success, friends and colleagues said he remained modest, approachable, and kind.
"He was a family to me," said Jones P. Byrd, partner in the law firm, who first met Freedman when Byrd was a law student. "He gave himself freely to everybody that he cared about, which was so many."
"He just cared very deeply about our legal community and our wider community as well," Byrd said. "He was active in social justice issues. It didn't matter whether you were charged with one of the most heinous crimes in the jail, or his close friend, or someone at the Y, he was who he was to everybody, and that is just deeply caring."
At Temple Emanuel in Winston-Salem, Rabbi Mark Cohn said Freedman served in several leadership positions, including on the board, executive committee, and as the president.
"He was a very bright, kind person with a tremendous sense of humor with a great laugh," Cohn said. "To be with David was to be with someone who was not just easy to be with, but meaningful to be with him. But fun too. He enjoyed a good time."
Rabbi Cohn said Freedman's family is being supported while they grieve.
"The family is being held and supported by a whole lot of circles of love, from meals to prayers," Cohn said.
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