[jambutty]

Originally Posted by yerself

How do people like this manage to find someone to defend them? I know we all have a living to make but surely even lawyers have a conscience and draw the line at which cases they take on. Or are they assigned certain cases? Perhaps our resident legal eagle, Ms. Blazey QC, could enlighten us.

Every person charged with committing a crime, no matter what it is, is entitled to defend themselves or hire a lawyer to do so on their behalf. Most people who face a criminal charge will have a defence lawyer appointed or they can select one if they cannot afford one under the Legal Aid scheme. In spite of the attempts by the media we do not try the accused by media or public opinion. And that is it should be because in the eyes of the law the accused is innocent until proved guilty by their peers.

I think that the only grounds that a lawyer can refuse a case are the lack of expertise in that particular field of the law or not having the time to take on another case. Thus a lawyer generally dealing with corporate law would be able to decline a criminal case and vice versa.

A defence lawyer does not judge the client and will do everything in his/her power to get the accused off the charge or gain the absolute minimum sentence. That’s his/her job. Similarly the prosecution team do the opposite.

The judge applies the law once a jury has come to a decision although the judge can direct the jury if the prosecution evidence is so weak or extremely strong. But the jury are not obliged to take the direction on board.

This particular crime was beyond belief but the law is the law, even if it is an ass at times and without it we would have vigilante groups and anarchy.