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Ok, here is a lawyer thing that bugs me
Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 9:54 am
by kusch
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/ ... 4719.shtml
I know I will get responses that will explain the attorney/client thingie, and well I don't have to like it, I can understand it, somewhat.
How can you let an innocent person do 26 years?
Re: Ok, here is a lawyer thing that bugs me
Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 10:33 am
by Appa23
It is a key reason why I ended a successful criminal defense career after a couple years. While in law school, I was a firm beleiver in zealous representation and the crucual cog that a criminal defense attorney playsin making sure that a prosecutor proves his case beyonf the merest shadow of a doubt.
Then, reality came crashing down on me. I would help acquit or plea down a drunk driver who then would get into an accident, in another state, that would put his wife and kids into the hospital. Serial drunk drivers were good for business, but bad for the soul.
Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 10:59 am
by gsabc
Okay, a couple of questions here, as I obviously have misunderstood the whole attorney/client privilege thing.
1. So I could conceivably get busted for jaywalking, confess to my lawyer that I had committed 70 murders around the country with enough detail to make him or her sure of my guilt, and he or she couldn't say anything at all about it? I've apparently been under the assumption that the privilege extended only to the case at hand.
2. I also thought that the privilege automatically expired when the client died. Another apparent error, since they seemed to need permission prior to the client's untimely death to talk about it later on. (Untimely, in that it happened too late.)
Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 11:01 am
by gsabc
Oh, and my nose bleeds for the poor lawyer who thought about the innocent man rotting in jail "at least 250 times a year". I'm sure it hurt his business and personal relationships while he drove his Mercedes to the next lunch meeting at the four-star restaurant.
Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 12:14 pm
by themanintheseersuckersuit
Let's stick this in this thread but it a pretty big deal
Powerful plaintiffs attorney Richard "Dickie" Scruggs and a co-defendant pleaded guilty Friday to conspiring to bribe a judge for a favorable ruling in a case involving legal fees from a post-Hurricane Katrina lawsuit.
The surprise plea came Friday during a hearing in Oxford, Miss. on pretrial matters, court officials said. A trial was set to begin at the end of the month.
Scruggs, 61, and co-defendant Sidney Backstrom both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States. Scruggs' law partner and son, Zach, also is charged in the case but did not enter a plea and is expected to go to trial.
Prosecutors said they would recommend five years in prison for Scruggs and 2 1/2 for Backstrom, penalties significantly lower than what they could have faced.
One of the best-known trial lawyers in the country, Scruggs was indicted along with his son and three associates in November.
They were accused of conspiring to pay a Lafayette County Circuit Court judge $50,000 for a favorable ruling in a dispute over $26.5 million in legal fees from a mass settlement of Hurricane Katrina cases.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/ ... briber.php
Oh, and he's Trent Lott's Brother in Law