Role of Attorneys

People ask me often why I defend those accused of drunk driving.  Many people think that an arrest automatically means guilt and criminal defense attorneys end up looking a bit evil.  To say the question "How can you defend those people?" is asked a lot is an understatement. 

The question is undoubtedly a difficult one and very complex in nature.  Issues of possible innocence, inaccurate evidence, a prosecutor piling on charges, protecting constitutional rights, unreliable testimony, ensuring a fair trial are all reasons why my job is so vital. 

A good way to explain it,  though is to look at what United States Supreme Court Justice Byron White said in the case of United States vs. Wade, 388 U.S. 218 (1967):

"Law enforcement officers have the obligation to convict the guilty and to make sure they do not convict the innocent.  They must be dedicated to making the criminal trial a procedure for the ascertainment of the true facts surrounding the commission of the crime.  To this extent, our so-called adversary system is not adversary at all; nor should it be.  But defense counsel has no comparable obligation to ascertain or present the truth.  Our system assigns him a different mission. He must be and is interested in preventing the conviction of the innocent, but, absent a voluntary plea of guilty; we also insist that he defend his client whether he is innocent or guilty.  The State has the obligation to present the evidence. Defense counsel need present nothing, even if he knows what the truth is.  He need not furnish any witnesses to the police, or reveal any confidences of his client, or furnish any other information to help the prosecution's case.  If he can confuse a witness, even a truthful one, or make him appear at a disadvantage, unsure or indecisive, that will be his normal course.  Our interest in not convicting the innocent permits counsel to put the State to its proof, to put the State's case in the worst possible light, regardless of what he thinks or knows to be the truth. Undoubtedly there are some limits which defense counsel must observe but more often than not, defense counsel will cross-examine a prosecution witness, and impeach him if he can, even if he thinks the witness is telling the truth, just as he will attempt to destroy a witness who he thinks is lying. In this respect, as part of our modified adversary system and as part of the duty imposed on the most honorable defense counsel, we countenance or require conduct which in many instances has little, if any, relation to the search for truth."

Some day you or someone you are close to could be arrested and charged with the crime of driving under the influence.  That person may be innocent-maybe not but you will hope they are defended by a dedicated, experienced attorney.  The Law Offices of Richard S Lawson: your best defense begins HERE.