Defense Attorneys Should Still Defend Guilty Criminals Essay

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As opposed to other world governments, the U.S. government takes the role to prove that a suspected criminate is guilty. The defense attorneys’ duty is thus to ensure adherence to the right legal procedures on behalf of the accused. The Fifth Amendment indicates that no person shall be deprived of property, life, or liberty without adhering to due process of law. Notice and hearing form the basis for the due process of law (Hornberger, “The Bill of Rights”).

Therefore, all suspects have a right to defend themselves while the grand jury attempts to prove them guilty. This task is assumed by the defense attorneys on behalf of the accused. A common issue of concern arises on whether attorneys should defend guilty criminals.

In my opinion, defense attorneys should defend criminals even when aware of their guilt. Considering the Petersons’ case, for instance, the jury relied on perceptions that Peterson had murdered his wife. In this case, it could not be shown that Peterson had committed the alleged crime with any concrete evidence as required by law. The inconsistency in Peterson’s story of the missing wife was used against him. This could be avoided by having a lawyer speak on his behalf.

A defense attorney would ensure consistency in the story because attorneys are professionally trained to give information without contradictions (Schmadeke, “New judge assigned to Drew Peterson case”).

A defense attorney later hired by Peterson acted on his defense in an effort to make sure that the grand jury adhered to the due process. This is necessitated by the incorporation of the feature of due process in the Fifth Amendment. The amendment requires no apprehension of persons to answer for a well-known crime unless on an indictment of a grand jury. Similarly, the sixth amendment requires that the accused be informed formally on the nature of the offense (Hornberger).

Peterson could not challenge prosecutors if left alone for his defense. Defense attorneys should thus defend suspects whether conscious of the suspects guilty or not. Criminal defense reveals otherwise unknown facts about criminal cases that could make the charges lenient or refutable.

In order to give the accused an opportunity to challenge the charges against him, the Sixth Amendment gives the accused the right to retain a lawyer to face the government prosecutors (Marshall,The Ethics of Justice”). It is thus acceptable for the lawyer to defend the suspect whether guilty or not.

Another due process protection incorporated in the Fifth Amendment ensures that evidence against the accused has to be developed independently but not forcefully extracted from the accused (Marshall). Peterson was for instance never pressed to give any information used against him. Instead, evidence was acquired from his actions and his story format.

Defense attorneys refute the tabled evidence depending on how realistic it is. The Amber Frey story and Petersons’ move to change appearance and purchase of a new vehicle used as evidence against him were refuted by the attorney. According to his defense, there was no direct relationship between the crime and the evidence. Peterson was though finally sentenced to death on two charges, Murder and Feticide. Feticide is any act that results in the death of a fetus. This was because the wife was expectant at the time of death so murdering her meant murdering the fetus hence the two charges.

Feticide laws do not apply to all states but only in 38. Such laws apply when the unborn are killed or injured during the commissioning of any of the existing federal crimes.

Among the states not yet applying these laws are Connecticut, Delaware and New Jersey among others. Having a defense would guarantee a just verdict on feticide now that it is not wholly established throughout the United States. Nonetheless, the application of these laws by all nations will restrain unlawful abortions as well as violence against expectant mothers. Women will also be keen with their pregnancies as the laws apply in intentional or irresponsible causes of stillbirths (Schmadeke).

Works cited

Hornberger, Jacob. “The Bill of Rights.”. 2005. Due Process of Law. Web.

Marshall, Jack.The Ethics of Justice.”. 2005. Why Criminal Defense Lawyers Defend the Guilty. Web.

Schmadeke, Steve “New judge assigned to Drew Peterson case”. 2012. Chicago Tribune. Web.

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