MOKPO, South Korea, May 20 (Reuters) - South Korea's legal system appears to be failing 15 surviving crew of a ferry that sank last month, killing hundreds of children, with their being tried and convicted by an angry public before the case has even come to court. Lawyers are agonising over how they can mount a convincing defence of the crew, who jumped ship as the children waited in their cabins, dressed in life jackets, obediently following orders before a disaster that put the whole country in mourning. The absence of determined defence may mean that the crew's side of the story - whether, for instance, they were adequately trained or whether they were given strict orders to abandon ship - may never be heard in court.