Why I do what I do

I have done a fair number of career days in my life. The question that I get asked all the time is "How can you defend someone that you know is guilty?"

I find this question fascinating because to me, the answer is so obvious. Not all of my clients are guilty. And even the clients who are guilty deserve someone to speak on their behalf.

I guess what a person who doesn't really have contact with the court system might not realize is that about 90% of cases settle before trial. Most of the time, I am able to talk to the prosecutor and we can work out a plea agreement, which we then put in front of a judge. So that leaves the other 10% of my cases that end up being a trial.

There are four situations when I will try a case:

1. I truly believe my client is not guilty and I have enough evidence to get an acquittal.

2. I think I have a good chance at winning at trial even if my client might be guilty, either because the police made an error of some kind or the prosecution just has no evidence.

3. I am pretty sure my client is guilty and I will lose at trial, but my client wants a trial.

4. I know I will lose at trial, but by putting all the evidence out there rather than just the state's version of events, I can get a more reasonable sentence from the judge.

But even if we decide to proceed on a plea, my work isn't done. I need to be able to tell the judge all of the reasons why my client isn't so bad. It may be convincing the judge my client doesn't deserve jail. Or if I know jail is going to be part of the sentence, then perhaps serving weekends or work release would be appropriate. Maybe my client needs drug or alcohol or even mental health treatment. Or has financial problems that need to be considered when setting a fine.

And even after sentencing, my job may still not be over. Sometimes the judge will leave a case open for a modification, so I need to make sure my client is doing what is necessary to earn that at a later date. Or my client ends up violation probation, so we're back to court on that. Or there are collateral matters that need to be addressed, like an MVA hearing when there's a serious traffic charge involved.

And really, there are days that I wonder why I do this for a living. Some of my clients, to put it very nicely, can be a challenge to deal with. I have a lot of people who just don't get it, don't see what the big deal is, don't comply with my recommendations, and blame everyone else for their problems.

More than once I have been told, "I went to jail because of you." To which I always respond, you went to jail because of you. I did not hit your girlfriend. Or get wasted and crash the car. Or put the marijuana in your pocket. Or fail the random urinalysis. You did that all on your own. On those days, it can really get me down.

But today... today I won. It was one of those rare cases where I truly truly believed my client was not guilty. And the state had no case. And the judge hated my client and didn't really believe much of what he said. But I still won. Because what he did was not a crime, as much as the prosecutor and police wanted to make it one.

And that is why I do what I do. Because the system is not perfect. And yes, sometimes the police and the prosecutors get so caught up in trying to catch the bad guy that they don't stop to actually look at the law and the facts. And sometimes justice means someone like me standing up at the table and demanding it.