Jonathan Soglin, at Criminal Appeal Blog, has an interesting post about how defense lawyers are at a greater risk of attack than prosecutors or judges. As I mentioned in my previous post on the subject, as bearers of bad tidings, defendants tend to engage in the practice known since ancient times as "killing the messenger." In fact, every time a judge or DA is attacked I wonder to myself, "now how did this defendant get the sense to attack the people who are really trying to screw him rather than the one person out there who really has his best interest at heart."
Read the post, it's very interesting.
4 comments:
And yet it is the prosecutors who have bills like this proposed in legislatures.
The thought does occur that every so often the defence are forcibly reminded that the people they are defending are not always 'good, honest, hardworking' etc rather amoral chavs (chavettes) who do not have the ability to accept punishment for the things that they have done and so feel the need to lash out at bad news because they are unable to deal with it any other way.
Just a thought you understand.
Actually, we fully understand that our clients aren't the most upstanding citizens of society.
The way they look at it is: "The prosecutor is just doing his job, the judge is just doing his job. My PD? I'm still going to jail, so he's not doing his job."
Not like we're "real" lawyers anyway.
Gents,
I am in a unique position in my State (New Hampshire) where I am assigned as a police prosecutor.
N.H is one of the few States left that still allows specially trained police officers to prosecute at the district court level.
In the last four years I have only had one unfortunate defendant that chose to try to strike me when he was convcited. He obviously was not aware I was an armed officer (the dept. buys me suits) until after I sprayed him, dropped him like a bad habit on the podium and cuffed him.
The defense attorney later told me he wished he also could carry the goodies I do under my dress coat.
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