A Problem in Privilege

You can't prove the innocence of the other man because that immediately begins a search for "the real killer." Since the real killer happens to be your client, it puts you in a difficult position.

But proving this man's innocence isn't the only way to get him out of prison. There are procedural issues that could possibly be raised about his past trial on appeal. If the innocent man can win on appeal, the final court can reinstate the original conviction or dismiss, but they cannot order a new trial. Assuming you do find a procedural problem, his case would be thrown out. Not only would it be thrown out, but the prosecution would be fuming that a "stupid technicality" is putting a guilty man back on the street. They would not spend any time looking for the true guilty party.

Knowing that this man is innocent, you should probe back into the evidence, the jury, the investigators (wasn't the detective apparently torturing people), the defense lawyer at the time. All you need is one procedural error, and considering that an innocent man was found guilty, that may be easier than you might think. Surely, you shouldn't represent this man on appeal, but I'm sure someone else could if you showed them the issue you were now looking at.

If you don't find an obvious procedural problem, you might have to create one. Find the power in the DA's office and see what he/she needs kept quiet or what kinds of favors he.she might need. Maybe this person has political aspirations that you could help them out with somehow or maybe this individual doesn't want people finding out about the high priced escort he/she likes to frequent. This may be a bit distasteful, but it could help solve your legal problem. Plus, I think it's pretty obvious by this point that criminal defense can be a little vulgar at times anyway.

-- ChristopherBuerger - 24 Mar 2008