Not So Funny Now: Defense Lawyers Are No Joke
On the twisting Ohio River is a shinning city. In this bustling metropolis is a office tower. In the massive building is a conference room with a view of the river. In the chair across from a frightened man sits a Cincinnati Criminal Defense attorney. This terrified man has told his fair share of lawyer jokes and has often made fun of attorneys. Today this Cincinnati criminal defense lawyer is his best friend in the world. This lawyer is his only hope to return him to the world he once knew.
The man was in the wrong place at the wrong time and with motive to murder. He didn’t murder his business partner in a fit of rage, but somebody did. The partner was sleeping with his wife, embezzling money from the business, accusing his son of stealing, black mailing his brother and laughing in his face. He had motive and his dna and finger prints were covering the crime scene. The partner was killed with a 9 mm glock, the same kind of hand gun that the man had used when he was on the police force. The prosecutor immediately suggested a plea bargain that would spare him the death penalty but put him away for life. The circumstantial case was overwhelming. The attorney hinted it might be his best bet. The man rejected the deal, he knew he was innocent. The lawyer was delighted because he liked impossible challenges. The lawyer didn’t ask if the man was innocent because he wasn’t concerned with the truth. The lawyer knew the man would say he was innocent, he just wouldn’t know if it was the truth or a lie.
A defense attorney sets out to explore the evidence and discovers the holes in the case against the client. It is a matter of studying all the exhibits and allegations and determining if the case has foundational weaknesses where reasonable doubt can be established. Most defense lawyers have to play a game of teeter-totter, balancing facts with supposition, creating possibilities, finding alternative theories and inspiring doubt. Seldom does a defense lawyer look at a defendant like a friend or brother. The bond between client and lawyer is simple; get the defendant to walk free or at least get the best deal possible. Can first degree murder be reduced to involuntary man slaughter? That might be a positive outcome.
Sometimes, in the service of a client’s interest, a lawyer express disdain for the person. They want to underscore the idea that this person, no matter how unpleasant, needs the jury to provide blind justice based on the law, not on popularity. The man charged with murder is counting on his lawyer to turn an impossible situation around. The lawyer is tasked with looking at the facts, hard and cold and navigating the best path through the legal system.
A good lawyer will orchestrate a defense that forms the facts into a good narrative to present to the jury. A competent attorney will anticipate the twists and turns of the prosecutions case. A good lawyer can mean the difference between life as a free person and capital punishment. If he survives, the man won’t tell anymore lawyer jokes.