We have to talk

From public defender blogger Woman in Black:

Ranking right up there on my list of my least favorite conversations that pds must have with clients is the “I know you say you did not do it, I believe you, the evidence against you is not overwhelming, but you really cannot trust a jury to free you and maybe you need to think about taking this deal instead of risking the rest of your life” conversation.

I dislike this conversation (which I had to have this week) for a number of reasons. First, I think it leads to client distrust; this is where a lot of the “public pretender” angst comes from. If you tell the client, strongly, to deal, when the client has a clearly defensible case, what do we really expect the client to think??? Second, I dislike it because it is anathema to me to have to say out loud that our jury system does. not. work. And no, I don’t have the answer as to what DOES work. Sorry. Third, I dislike this conversation because sometimes (though not this week) the client agrees to plead. Then we are both left with the “what ifs”…Bleh.

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