It is not my job...(part 2)

It is a rainy evening and the game is on.  A young man is at his father's home, enjoying the game and some guy time.  It's half-time and the boy has a craving for some snacks that aren't in the kitchen.

"That's fine, I have a few bucks from my allowance, I will run to the corner store and be back in time for the second half of the game."

"Grab your coat, it's raining" he can hear his mother say on his way out the door.  So he grabs his hooded sweater to protect him from the rain and off he goes.

The young man successfully makes it in the store, greets the clerk who is enjoying highlights from the same game he was just watching, pays for his snack and heads back out the door.

He hears footsteps.  Initially he thinks nothing of it, people walk outside in the rain-he's doing it.

But these footsteps seem to be getting closer to him.  He turns his head slightly to peek around his hoody and sees a man uncomfortably close to him so he speeds up.

So does the man.

He runs.

So does the man.

The young man turns around to confront the man "Why are you following me?"

The man replies "What are you doing here?"

The young man tries to, literally, call for help when he is attacked, beaten down and killed....

.......

.......

As a criminal defense attorney, these are the types of cases that make your friends look at you sideways and think (or say) "How could you defend someone like THAT?!"

Well, first of all, I'm not his lawyer.  Second, if you REALLY want justice then you want someone like that to have an attorney.  You want him to have a competent and GOOD attorney.  You want someone in his corner that is going to make sure that the police did their job, the prosecutors do their job, the jury understands their role and the judge does his job.  You want someone like me that is going to make sure all of this happens because when that jury comes back and convicts that man, YOU WANT THE CONVICTION TO STICK!

If he is Pro Se (represents himself) and is convicted, he has a good case for appeal.

If he has a half-assed lawyer that barely does their job, he has a good case for appeal.

If he has a lawyer that allows their personal desire to see this man lite on fire, affect their representation, he has a good case for appeal.

It is not my job to convict a man that I truly believe is guilty.  It is not my job to set my client up for a guilty verdict and it is not my job to further corrupt an already corrupt system.  It is my job to do EVERYTHING in my power to make sure that I am oil in the very rusty machine we call the justice system.  Because being a criminal defense attorney does not mean I am blind to the fact that sometimes "GUILTY" is justice.  Sometimes "GUILTY" is a win.

Trust me, I am a human being that chose law as my profession, not a lawyer that chose to be a human being.  I have emotions, I have opinions and I hope the justice system executes justice AND George Zimmerman.  But I want him to be tried well, so that he may rot in hell.

Until next time,

Be blessed, be careful, don't confess and don't consent.

~LT