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Defending The Criminal

Imagine you are an established lawyer... Could you defend a criminal if you knew he was guilty? What about if you were not sure if he was guilty? Would you consider it just another job? Would you give it your best or somehow hope that he looses and gets sent to jail?

Criminal Defending

Well, I work at a law firm where we have one attorney who handles criminal cases. I am told he generallydoesn't want to know if his client is guilty. I think it is a matter of how can you go to court and really defend someone if you know they did it. The problem many lawyers have though is that they believe truly that everyone has a right to a legal defense. So, if no one were willing to defend someone who is guilty, they would be denied their right to legal representation. Often when someone has clearly done something illegal, rather than defend them in an attempt to get them off, the lawyer is working towards helping the client receive the lightest sentence possible.

Defending The Criminal History & Civil Business Politics

This is why I could not be a lawyer. I form opinions too quickly and if I had an inkling that the person I was representing was guilty, I would have a very difficult time defending them. Or I probably would not try very hard to defend them, and they would end up getting found guilty, at which point I would not have done a very good job. In the end I suppose it all ends up being a job, but a job that affects people's lives.

Criminal Defending

I think that's an important point, Tenaheff. Those who have acted illegally need defense (though they can do it themselves technically I believe) because otherwise they migth be punished more than they should - also, once upon a time in a more righteous day, bringing the matter to trial would have left the Jury the option of casting down corrupt laws and dismissing the case: Juries can still vote "not guilty" in cases where the person is guilty but the broken law is corrupt (ndeed, they have a duty to). Juries trump judges, though judges will often (wrongly) tell juries they must vote guilty if the person has broken the law.


Dubhdara.