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Attorneys do not usually make a living drawing attention to cases they have lost.

Stewart Riley, a retired, longtime Seattle criminal defense lawyer, is clearly an exception to the rule.

Riley has spoken at length about a high-profile courtroom defeat early in his career – as he did during a stop at Seaport Books in La Conner on Thursday – and has expanded it into his debut as an author.

Riley’s newly released “Helena Star” details the epic tale of a major international drug smuggling operation whose prosecution in Seattle more than four decades ago became a major media...