Fine Justice Systems
Becoming a lawyer is hard, but nothing is more challenging that actually doing the job. Proving an innocent person is who he or she says — while the evidence is sacked against them — is tougher than any television show accurately portrays.
What’s worse is when lawyers find themselves defending someone who is actually guilty. The lines between morality and professionalism blur a little bit. For those who are curious about exactly how much that line blurs, lawyers and the like of Reddit have stepped up to tell their stories about defending a guilty person. Keep reading.
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Simple
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I get asked this a lot.
I have represented horrible people accused of horrible things. But the fact remains that they are owed a fair trial and the State still needs to prove the facts beyond a reasonable doubt which is difficult.
If the state cannot meet their burden, the accused goes free. This is our system. (Danoz)
Distraught
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My father has been a criminal defense attorney for 30+ years. He no longer takes those types of cases [homicide, serial murder, etc.] because they do take an enormous toll on your mental well-being. My father is as calloused and confident as they make ’em, so if he is willing to admit that it rattles even his conscience – it must be some serious s**t.
Apparently, during one of his first cases back in his twenties he had to represent a murder who he believed to be 100% guilty. Could not go to sleep the night before trial, stayed up vomiting and crying all night long. (Chinstrap_1)
Protecting Rights
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I helped represent three murderers, all on death row, one at trial, and all three in post-conviction relief situations.
They were… interesting. I worked for one of the top death row defense attorneys in the nation. All of these men had mental health issues which their original attorneys failed to explore and use as either a defense or as mitigation at sentencing. While I didn’t feel any sympathy for what they did (including a 6’7″ 270lb. dude who looked like an NFL tight end or linebacker who brutally murdered an old lady with a screwdriver over a $200 Social Security check), it was sad to see how their original lawyers had failed to adequately protect their rights.
At the end of the day, it’s all the same whether I’m representing a dumb college kid in municipal court who got too drunk at the bar and started a fight with a bouncer, or someone accused of murder. (vox_veritas)