He was accused of wrapping his son in plastic and leaving him in the woods to die, in hopes of eliciting sympathy from a former girlfriend. Donald Blom was recently tried and convicted in St. Louis County for abducting, killing, and incinerating the remains of a young woman. Both Kramer and Blom confessed, recanted, and stood trial in highly publicized and emotionally charged proceedings. Kramer was defended by Candace Rasmussen, a Winona public defender. In these cases, by all accounts, defense lawyers provided skilled and zealous advocacy in the face of strong evidence and intense pressures.
Lawyers know the answer is no.
They also know that the answer comes from the intellect, not from emotion, and that it is not universally understood and accepted. A lawyer must suspend belief and emotion, and accept the legal presumption of innocence. For the defender, this is an abstract cause. The trial is as likely to bring public vilification as recognition, and as likely to bring private pain as satisfaction. A defender performs a job that is as essential to justice as that of the prosecutor, the judge, or the juror.