are defense attorneys ethical?

Question

when a defense attorney takes a case, or is assigned a case, surely they must form an opinion in their own mind of the suspects guilt or innocence after seeing the evidence and talking to the suspect..if they believe in their hearts that the suspect is guilty do they still try to get the person off?? what about a suspect who actually tells the attorney he did the crime, does the attorney still try to get him off?..if any of this is so, how can it be right legally, morally or ethically?

Answer 1

A defense attorney is first and foremost an officer of the court and should he be given a confession by the defendant he has an obligation to not fabricate evidence or other theories to cover up the crime for his client. Unfortunately many defense attorneys are more hung up on winning and their win/loss ratio than the truth or justice. this is NOT always the case, but more common than it should be.
As far as the defense attorneys who aren't sure about their client's guilt or innocence, they MUST defend that client to the best of their ability and let the chips of evidence and circumstances and witnesses fall where they may for the jury to see. If done this way, the truth is not obscured, rather, the possiblity of innocense is presented for the jury to find. the jury is the fact finder and if nothing is covered up, then the system will be able to ascertain guilt or innocence based on testimony and evidence; the way it should be.
If you're ever accused of a crime you did not commit, you'll appreciate the importance of a good defense attorney. Wish there were more honest ones out there.

Answer 2

The attorney is ethically bound to deliver the most effective representation to his or her client. This has nothing to do with guilt or innocence. You will notice that a good defense attorney rarely asks his or her client "Well, did you do it?" To them, it does not matter if the person is guilty or not; their job is to force the prosecution to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the person did it, based on the evidence. In some cases, a defense attorney will excuse himself/herself from a case but it's not that common.

The defense attorney is one of the most important people in the whole judicial system. Without the defense attorneys to question the evidence and argue over technicalities, there would be no one to keep the prosecution in check. Their job is not to get the person "off" entirely (although that happens a lot); they're supposed to make absolutely sure that the right person is being charged with the right crime, for the right reasons, and that the evidence backs that up.

Answer 3

The whole way the american justice system is set up is so that the odds are always, always stacked in the defendant's hand. Well, at least for cases of State or Federal government vs. a person. They have the tough job of proving guilt. All the attorney has to do is disprove the plaintiff's proof.

Attourneys can refuse a case, but unless its murder, if you can get away with it, its because of flaws in the legal system which is remedied after obvious mistrials. Think about OJ. Its pretty obvious what the outcome should have been, but racism and popularity got in the way. We've since remedied it at least some by decreasing racism(by the way juries are chosen) and discounted popularity. Look at Michael Jackson for that--Who didn't think he molested the boys? Just because he's weird doesn't mean he's not innocent (does not reflect my personal views).

Answer 4

Hi im 13 and I admit I have very little life experience (lol). But my dad has a lot of experience going to court and he talks a lot about his job. He works as a police detective investigation homicides. Now my dad is very through in his work but he is also very kind. We are Jewish and my dad practices the ethics taught by our religion. My dad never feels that defense attorneys are bad and understands that its up to a jury to hear both sides of the story. Most of the people that he catches are facing a very severe sentence and have a right to have an attorney help them in court. He says its better for a guilty man to go free than an innocent man to go to jail. Sometimes because of his attitude he gets in trouble with the others where he works and he has trouble finding partners who want to be with him. On the qt he has helped defense attorneys where if the others found out he could be in serious trouble. He says he wants to be able to sleep at night with a clear conscience. The reason they still use him is because he VERY good and solves a lot of cases. He does some really wierd stuff that he keeps under wraps like once he went to a graveyard in the middle of the night in a pouring rainstorm with a man that had Kabbalistic powers. Whatever he did must have worked. My did likes to confide in me. Dont worry he never says anything to me gross or gory. I love him and he's my hero.

Answer 5

A defense attorney has a duty to defend his/her client. If you would prefer that both the prosecution and defense counsels put the rights of the state ahead of a defendant, I am sure that you would have had no problems with the legal systems of Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, or even Sadaam Hussein's regime. I realize that it is maddening when people like O.J. Simpson beat the system, but it would be a hell of a lot worse, if we adopted one of the aforementioned ones. When a person is put on trial for a felony, it is considered a crime against the state, NOT against the particular victim(s). Pay attention in your high school government class, and you will learn that fact.

Answer 6

If he takes the case and continues with the case after finding the evidence to be in his opinion true, even though he may feel his client is guilty by law he must give him the best counsel that is available to him at the time. If he can not do that then he must withdraw from the case.. of course it is not so easy if the case was appointed to him by the state. HE IS OBLIGATED to treat the person with all due diligence and extent of the lawerying profession.

Answer 7

Most good defense attorneys instruct their client not to tell them if they did the crime they are accused of. That way they can ethically defend them to the best of their ability. Some are unethical and immoral and don't care as long as they make a buck.

Answer 8

Many attorneys are subject to ethics rules which dictate that they must be dilligent when handling any case.

Look at OJ's lawyers. They knew he did it but their job was to exonerate OJ and not play nice with morality. Sometimes, the job is stressful and hell, but the attorney is obligated to advocate for his client's interests. This needs to be clear when there is an initial consultation.

Answer 9

"ethical" and "lawyer" shouldn't in any respect be interior the comparable sentence. Ever. To be an lawyer, you're able to be able to desire to sell your soul to the devil. every physique who contemplates being paid to symbolize upstanding human beings consisting of latest child rapists, homicidal psychopaths and politicians could desire to the two be ethically and morally ineffective or hail from the planet Xargon. How can those human beings (attorneys) sleep at evening understanding they have enable a unfavorable guy or woman back on the line and for this reason be without postpone to blame for yet another harmless sufferer to be subjected to a heinous crime, is previous me.

Answer 10

yes of course, it is the defense attorneys job to try and get them off, or get any good evidence throw out.
Often the judge, the DA, and the Defence attorney all know he did it, but they get him off by some loop hole

That is thier job, And it is easier if the person tells them the truth if they are guilty or not. Lets say that they found the dead bodies in the basement, and he had the murder weapon in his car and he confessed he did it.

well the defense attorney will try and get the bodies, the weapon and the confession thrown out of court, to get him off.

That is how it works,