It doesn’t take you long as a criminal attorney to find out that there are certain unwritten rules in place. They are the types of things everyone talks about but no one really does anything about, either because they are a systemic problem or because they never affect your individual client enough to try to take on the problem.
I must admit, I didn’t put this list together. I stole it from one of the prominent criminal lawyers of all time – Alan Dershowitz. This list comes from his book, The Best Defense, which I’m reading right now, and would recommend to any young, aspiring DUI attorney or seasoned criminal law veteran.
So, here we go. Here are the rules of the criminal justice game:
I. Almost all criminal defendants are, in fact, guilty;II. All criminal defense lawyers, prosecutors and judges understand and believe Rule I;
III. It is easier to convict guilty defendants by violating the Constitution than by complying with it, and in some cases it is impossible to convict guilty defendants without violating the Constitution;
IV. Almost all police lie about whether they violated the Constitution in order to convict guilty defendants;
V. All prosecutors, judges, and defense attorneys are aware of Rule IV;
VI. Many prosecutors implicitly encourage police to lie about whether they violated the Constitution in order to convict guilty defendants;
VII. All judges are aware of Rule VI;
VIII. Most trial judges pretend to believe police officers who they know are lying;
IX. All appellate judges are aware of Rule VIII, yet many pretend to believe the trial judges who pretend to believe the the lying police officers;
X. Most judges disbelieve defendants about whether their constitutional rights have been violated, even if they are telling the truth;
XI. Most judges and prosecutors would not knowingly convict a defendant who they believe to be innocent of the crime charged (or a closely related crime);
XII. Rule XI does not apply to members of organized crime, drug dealers, career criminals, or potential informers;
XIII. Nobody really wants justice.
There you have it. If you thinking about getting into the criminal justice game, you might as well know the rules your playing with.
