Defense attorneys....

[lillygator]

You know....it makes me sick to think of the attorneys who are representing John Couey - the killer of Jessica Lunsford. Honestly how can they do this - not that it would make it better, but a little more understandable if this man was a millionaire or of wealth seeing there may be a profit for you - but you are getting nothing but fame and now bringing up the fact that he did/didn't ask for a lawyer? Who gives a flip? (not to mention the people who helped hide you!)


what if that was your child killed.......grandchild.....?

how can you defend a derelict, convicted sex offender with a clear conscience?

If I was a wife or family member I would totally disown them.


it just makes me sick....and rest assured you ever mess with my children or family I will not wait for justice, I will be in jail.

 

[Nancy]

I always ask that question too...how can you defend someone who committed such a horrible crime? The answer I got was that they are not so much trying to get him freed, but just trying to make sure he gets due process of the law, which entitles him to a fair trial. My daughter wants to be a trial lawyer, she has decided to has to work for the prosecuters office because she just couldn't do that and if she worked for a law firm she would have to take cases assigned to her. I told her she needs to be good enough and make a name for herself so she could open her own firm..then she can pick and choose. Of course she is only 16 right now, so who knows what the future brings.

 

[pearlieq]

I thank the Lord every day for criminal defense attorneys. Every person accused is entitled to a zealous defense.

First of all, sometimes we're wrong. I'm glad we have defense attorneys to uphold due process of the law.

But mostly, as the previous poster said, we have to have a defense attorney to be able to go to trial. If no one was willing to represent Jeffery Dhamer, he could never be put away.

It's got to be a very difficult job, but I'm glad we have people to do it.

 

[lillygator]

I thank the Lord every day for criminal defense attorneys. Every person accused is entitled to a zealous defense.

I guess I am just of a different mindset....a previously convicted sex offender who had slipped though the cracks regarding address....rapes and kills someone...who confessed to it....I don't know, I couldn't live with myself defending him...

 

[bicker]

It helps differentiate us, the civilized, from them, the barbarians.

 

[Quinn222]

My brother is a criminal defense atty. He defends murderers. As has been said above, it's his job to see that they are fairly represented at trial and that due process is accorded his client. Yes, he does the best he can for them. I suppose it is somewhat balanced out by the fact that his wife is a Prosecutor and works the opposite side. Also if the death penalty or life is handed down it's tougher to overturn on appeal if the person had a good defense at trial. So that's a plus.

 

[WatchinCaptKangaroo]

If there wasn't someone to ensure they got a fair trial they would be out wandering the streets either on appeal or the fact that they could not receive due process.

I don't look at defense attorneys as defending the guilty as much as protecting the innocent and helping the prosecution put away criminals by making sure they get a fair trial.

 

[maddiemouse]

It helps differentiate us, the civilized, from them, the barbarians.

That is so perfect..
Ya know Bicker, I lurk a lot, but don't post often, and I've read many of your posts. While I agree with you some times, and here I'm trying to come up with an inoffensive way to say this, sometimes I find your comments a bit pedantic...you're just so durn LOGICAL all the time.
But I totally agree with you on this one. No matter how sickening and horrific the crime may be, thank God we have people willing to see that the criminal gets a fair trial, because what's the alternative? A lynch mob?

 

[DVC Sadie]

If it wasn't for the defense attorneys the legal system would be a sham. Just think about the innocent people who have been accused (some convicted) of crimes they did NOT commit.


If i had a family member arrested for a crime that they did not commit, I for one acknowledge that I would be begging for help for the best defense attorney I could find.

 

[lillygator]

but there is a HUGE difference in defending an innocent accused and a confessed person, what I find horrific is the defense attorney's in this case are LOOKING for way for Couey's confession to be INADMISSABLE.....


that is just horrible......plain and simple....

 

[skuttle]

I could never do it. I don't have it in me. I think it takes a special kind of person to be able to do that kind of defense work. To be able to put your personal beliefs and feelings aside and give each and every defendant the best defense possible, regardless of the situation. And as others have said, if a true murderer has a bad defense attorney, then his/her case could easily be overturned based on some legal technicality. So be thankful for those who truly do try to give these defendants the best defense that they can.

 

[skuttle]

but there is a HUGE difference in defending an innocent accused and a confessed person, what I find horrific is the defense attorney's in this case are LOOKING for way for Couey's confession to be INADMISSABLE.....


that is just horrible......plain and simple....

Maybe so, but that's their job. They are not horrible people for doing their job to the best of their abilities.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

I have two relatives (they are husband and wife) who are public defenders in a big city and I've gotta say that neither of them seem to have consciences--they really do not care about right or wrong, guilt or innocence, but rather it's all about WINNING to them.

I agree that people who have been arrested for crimes deserve to have defense attorneys,but I think you have to be pretty, er....detached! Yeah, that's the word, detached, to be trying to get somebody off when you know they're guilty.

 

[lillygator]

yes, I think you have a right to a defense. I would think it would mean more to an attorney who would be getting paid, ie Simpson. But Couey (he has no $$$)? He raped and killed someone, a little girl at that......does he deserve an attorney going above and beyond? to try and lessen his sentence/get him off? That's what I guess it comes down to.


Sick, just really sick.

 

[christineann]

I would assume that Couey's attorney is a court appointed one who really doesn't have a choice but to defend him. I just wish the state of Florida would go after his relatives, in whose home the crimes took place and who then made sure he got out of town. They should be accessories, at least.

When Couey gets to prison, he will probably meet up with some prison justice. Child molesters (and child murderers) are lower than cockroaches in the prison population.

 

[Honu]

I have two relatives (they are husband and wife) who are public defenders in a big city and I've gotta say that neither of them seem to have consciences--they really do not care about right or wrong, guilt or innocence, but rather it's all about WINNING to them.

That problem runs rampant through our legal system and prosecutors are just as guilty of it. Their callousness infuriates me more. It's their job to uphold the truth.

 

[momx2]

I have two relatives (they are husband and wife) who are public defenders in a big city and I've gotta say that neither of them seem to have consciences--they really do not care about right or wrong, guilt or innocence, but rather it's all about WINNING to them.

I agree that people who have been arrested for crimes deserve to have defense attorneys,but I think you have to be pretty, er....detached! Yeah, that's the word, detached, to be trying to get somebody off when you know they're guilty.

I am very sorry your relatives have that attitude. I am a public defender and have been one for 12 years. In my time I have represented many horrible people. I have never tried to lie or scam to get them off. I merely protect their rights. I have represented probably 25 people charged with murder. Some facing the death penalty. I have also represented 3 men charged with murder who were innocent, one facing death. 2 have been dismissed, one I'm taking to trial in December. I also represented 1 man charged with manslaughter who was innoncent, case dismissed. I have represented men charged with rape who were innocent, one of those was dismissed last month. I represented a woman charged with murder who was defending herself in a domestic violence situation, she received 5 years probated after facinga life sentence. I also represent many who are mentally ill (one man charged with murder, dismissed and committed to a mental hospital, he was in his 70s and had horrible demitia). I have represented others innocent who were later acquitted or charges dismissed.

Now, let me say, the majority are guilty. I make sure their const. rights are protected and do the best I can for them. The majority of my case load is drug abusers who sell drugs to their friends (who happen to be in trouble at the time and become snitches) for $40 bucks to support their habit and face 5-10 yrs. the first time they get caught. Our govenor said last week that at the rate our state incarcerates, we will have to build a $180 million prison every 2 years.

I'm sorry some find me so horrible. And yes, sometimes I've had trouble sleeping. Some of the crimes are so horrible that I have broke down and cried driving or I have nightmares. Yes, I am human and have children and love disney and have a conscious. But I do it to help the few people I speak about above. If not I, who would????

 

[MrsToad]

As many posters have already said, no matter how horrific the crime, we must NOT lose sight of the fact that our laws provide for a proper defense for all and, if an accused can't afford an attorney, or get one to serve at no charge, an attorney will be provided at society's expense. And no, there shouldn't be a difference between those who "are innocent" (and how would we really know?) and those who confess. Along the lines of what bicker said, we can't pick and choose who we think should benefit from having an attorney and who should not; if we could, would that mean there shouldn't even be a trial? That is not our way; our laws providing for proper defense are there to protect all of us, and for many good reasons. For example, while maybe not the case in this crime, haven't there been confessions that were false? Haven't there been "positive" identifications by victims that turned out to be false?

I know it would be hard not to feel as the OP does if a crime were to be committed against someone in my family; this is why it is good we have system of laws to handle prosecutions rather than a system allowing the harmed families to make such decisions.

Thanks for listening.

 

[lillygator]

but do we really have a good system?


at least here, in Fl, I think the answer is no....two prominent cases....Lunsford and Brucia kind of "slipped through the cracks".......


as well as may others. It's really really sick. Really.


I guess my question for the DA's, when you know they are guilty - how can you do it? How can you represent them? And sure, false confessions have been given but in this case, a convicted sex offender, on the run, not at his "listed" address and they find the girls body buried there....doesn't take a Harvard grad.....

 

[lillygator]

if an accused can't afford an attorney, or get one to serve at no charge, an attorney will be provided at society's expense.

that's even worse, we are paying for it.