As lawyers, we like — indeed, we relish — telling our friends, family and anyone willing to listen that a defendant is entitled to a fair and impartial trial, divorced from prejudice. But this is the ultimate legal fiction.Sure, a defendant is entitled to a fair trial (due process, as well as the rules of evidence and professional responsibility, govern); and, of course, we do the best we can to see that the proceedings are truly “impartial” (divorced from conflict or the appearance of impropriety …