aTypical Joe: a gay New Yorker living in the rural South

Monday, September 10, 2007

Not guilty?

Blonde Justice (a criminal defense attorney working in a big city) guesses “somewhere around 10-15% of the people who are pleading guilty are not....” Thats less than I’d have guessed; the post and its comments enlightened me. But this anecdote moved me:

I had a case just last week, where my client told me that he “didn’t do it,” and came to court every month for months waiting for his trial. And I knew, no matter how it shook out, that we had a good shot at trial. And, worse case scenario, he was probably facing probation and some fines.

Recently, though, my client lost his job. Last week, he got hired for a new job. He told them that he could start the day after we had court. So, he asked me, “Can you just work out the best possible plea for me today? I won’t be able to keep taking off work at my new job.” I explained to him that he had consistently told me he was innocent, and that I thought we had a good shot at winning at trial, and that to plead guilty he’d have to “admit his guilt” to the judge.

And he told me, “I just can’t afford to lose this job. I just need to get this over with.” It was his fourth or fifth day spent in court.

I went to the prosecutor to work out a plea. And I said to him, “Look, I don’t think my guy did it. But he wants to get this over with.” I laid out the evidence I thought the prosecutor would have at trial, I laid out the evidence I would have, some of which I had been saving for trial. I think the prosecutor recognized that this was working out well, and offered my client just a fine, no time on probation.

So, he pleded guilty, “admitted” his guilt.

It’s kind of a weird thing, because of course I’m never allowed to lie to the court… but this is kind of a lie, right? I stood next to my client and let him lie and say he did it, after he told me twenty times he didn’t do (and had kind of proven it to me).

I guess the cynic would say, “For all you know, he could have been lying when he said he didn’t do it, and finally telling the truth when he was pleading guilty.” But, really, then why doesn’t the reverse work? If my client had told me twenty times he did it, and then I led him through testimony in which he finally claimed that he didn’t do it, I would be suborning perjury.

But guilty pleas are what makes our judicial system efficient.