Our associate David M. Cooper went to court last night and talked with a prosecutor I've always liked (since before he was even a prosecutor). This particular prosecutor made a remark to David, saying "Warren thinks everyone is innocent."
I am quite flattered by this remark. There's this long-standing phrase that sticks with me -- "innocent until proven guilty."
Now I am aware of the reality that some of our clients may have done something wrong. In most of these cases, our clients are good people who made a bad decision at the wrong moment. In a few cases our clients are really not wonderful people.
But nevertheless, there is this principle about being innocent until proven guilty. If I'm going to represent criminal defendants, you better believe I'm going to embrace this concept.
Unfortunately our system often presumes guilty and treats defendants - even the truly innocent ones - quite badly. That's why all defendants deserve a lawyer who believes they're innocent.
1 comment:
I live in New York and enjoy reading your blog. This post was excellent.
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