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Defense Attorney Research Paper

393 Words2 Pages

A defense attorney may be faced with defending clients whom the attorney believes is guilty of the crime charged. Many would ask the question why advocate for someone’s innocence if your beliefs contradict. The sixth amendment states, “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, … and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.” If a lawyer is a person who practices or studies the law and the constitution of The United States is the supreme law of the land. Lawyers have an obligation to counsel weather or not innocence or guilt plays a factor. Without this the whole system would collapse if lawyers choose not to represent based on feelings and not facts. Lawyers have other obligations as well when it comes to representing clients. If a defense attorney believes a client is guilty they must still protect the client from abuse of the eighth amendment. The eighth amendment states that no cruel and unusual punishment may be inflicted. If a client is being prosecuted for breaking and entry it is the lawyers …show more content…

They should not make an assumption off of beliefs and not the facts. A lawyer may see the arrest in the news or hears gossip and forms opinions of the subject’s guilt without seeing the facts. The subject is innocent until he or she is proven guilty. The whole function of a court system is to prove innocence or guilt based on facts. The police arrest based on weather they have probable cause or not. It then falls on the players of the courtroom to examine all the evidence. There could be evidence in the case that proves them innocent that the attorney would never be able to see because they formed an opinion. In these facts a lawyer could also find things such as misappropriation of evidence or an unlawful arrest that would result in the case being thrown

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