Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1913-09-03
DEEENDING A GUILTY CLIENT.
Lawyer Faces Delicate Situation
When He Knows Accused Com.
mittel Crime.
(Kansas City Starr

fend him in court, and If 80 to what
extent should he go in his defense?
Many lawyers take the position
that II the client pays satisfactory
fee for his defense it Is the duty Of
the lawyer to do everything possible
to circumvent bhe law and to obtain
his acquittal, even to the extent Of
Tobbing a safe.
Others believe that lawyer
should not by hairs breadth do
anything to save the guilty from the
consequences Of crime or wrong do
ing.
Others, again, believe that a law
yer Is justified in undertaking the
. defense of a person he knows is gull
ty, but that in such a case the law
yer does his whole duty if he sees
that the forms prescribed by law are
adhered to and the trial conducted
according to the rules and practices
OF the court.
These hold to the opinion that
lawyer is not called upon to bully
witnesses, deceive juries, play the
mountebank or appeal with high
sounding periods to the lowest mo-
tives Of mankind to save any person
who is obviously guilty.
1t has become recognized as part
of the public prosecutors duty first
~ ttcfv nf hn
guilt before he indicts. He must
shield the innocent as we'll as pun
ish the guilty.
Has the lawyer for the defense no
like duty to the State? When the
lawyer becomes the advocate for a
guilty man does he lose his individ-
ual moral responsibility for judg-
ment in the case as a man.
The American Bar Association, in
1907, appointed a special commit
tee, composed of the greatest law
yers and jurists in America to draw
up code Of ethics for the guidance
of lawyers and in the code that was
adopted were the following para
graphs:
"A lawyer may undertake with
propriety the defense Of a person ac-
cuse6 of crime, although he knows
or believes him guilty; and having
undertaken 1t, he is bound by all
fair and honorable means to present
such defense as the law of the land
permits, to the end that no person
may be deprived of life or liberty
but by due process Of law
But the office of attorney does
not permit, much less does it de-
mand, for any client violation of the
law, or any manner OF fraud of Chi
canery No lawyer Is justified in
substituting another's conscience for
his own. A lawyer should not do for
his client what his sense of honor
would forbid him to do for himself.
He may counsel and maintain only
such actions and proceedings as ap-
pear to him just"
Col. l.. H. Walker, Of this city,
who practiced law on the same cir
cult in Illinois as Abraham Lincoln,
}, tells the following story, which illus
I trated Lincoln's attitude on this
nooted question of a lawyers duty
to a client he believes to be guilty:
An atrocious murder had been
committed, and man, a stranger in
the community, was arrested for the
crime. The circumstances all point
ed to the guilt Of the man, and pub
lie feeling was strong against him.
He was without money or friends,
and when the case was called for
trial the Judge appointed Lincoln to
defend him. On the trial Lincoln
drew from the witness full state
ments OF all circumstances. No eff
fort was made to conceal one bit Of
evidence or to confuse the court or
the jury. At the close OF the case
Lincoln arose and reviewed the case
and ended with this remark to the
jury:
II have reflected much on this
tase, and, while it seems probable
tNat this man is guilty, I am not
sure. Are you?"
ME jury acquitted the man, and
aftt trward the real criminal was ar
rested, convicted and confessed his
guilt
In that case Lincoln acted in strict
accord with the code OF ethics later
laid down by the American associa-
tion.
So did the lawyers who were ap-