One for the lawyers out there...?

Question

Generally do you know whether your client is guilty or not guilty or do you prefer not to know?

Answer 1

Like anyone else, when a client first presents himself to a Solicitor, we have no idea whether he is guilty or not. Obviously. we ask, because, at least in English Law, an early plea of guilty can result in a much reduced sentence. If there is doubt, then we may advise a plea of not guilty, as it is up to the Prosecution (i.e the Crown) to demonstrate beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant has committed the crime and that he had the intention of doing so.

In English Law, there are quite a few minor offences where the Prosecution only has to prove, beyond reasonable doubt, that the offence was committed - the intention to commit the crime does not enter in to the equation, so we would advise a guilty plea and present mitigation in court (my client drove past a red traffic light to allow an ambulance with its siren activated free passage).

As a rule, we can 'sniff out' whether a client is guilty or not guilty, but we ignore this. We are solely concerned with evidence.

To sum up, a solicitor will not make any money defending the hopeless - he will only build up a bad reputation. If you are caught with a knife in the back of your victim, his bloodstains all over your clothes, and twenty witnesses to the crime, you are up a gum tree. We might be able to mitigate that the defendant stabbed the victim because he had walked in on the victim making love to the defendants wife, but if evidence is of such a 'smoking gun' nature, guilt is obvious.

Whenever we see poor evidence, we will instruct a Barrister to act on our client's behalf. (A Barrister is a specialist in a particular area of law). Ultimately, for the majority of minor cases, we will only defend if the case is defensible. It would be professional suicide to defend the indefensible.

Answer 2

Isn't this a built in part of the system? If a lawyer knows that his or her client is guilty the discussions usually center around a plea agreement rather than a trial. The myth of the truly guilty person getting off at trial is very rare, although it happens. It is more likely in this age that an innocent person will be convicted or that a guilty person will be convicted of a greater offense than they actually should have been.

Answer 3

generally they are guilty. technically i never know for sure because sometimes my clients only chance is perjury. putting my client on the stand is a game and we know how to play it well

Answer 4

The vexed question My Lord, is, 'was my client innocent' before he committed the horrible and brutal murder? to which I have advised him to plead not guilty. Lunch? My Lord, perhaps 'something'.