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How Can You Defend Those People?!
By Rick Collins, Esq.
Everyone deserves a vigorous defense. Whether or not we agree with their politics, or approve of what they might have done, should never be a factor.
Q: People who get busted are almost all guilty. How can you defend those people?!
A:That’s a question people often ask defense lawyers if they’ve never had a family member accused of breaking the law. But they change their tune fast when Little Johnny gets pulled out of his college dorm by the campus police or when Uncle Butch calls from the station after getting pulled over for drunk driving. Whoever you think “those” people are, they are your friends, neighbors and relatives more often than you think.
When I first left the prosecutor’s office and started my law practice as a criminal defense lawyer, I accepted a lot of assigned counsel cases – “indigent” clients who could not afford to pay a lawyer. As a bodybuilder and former nightclub bouncer, I was seen by the judges as someone to appoint for angry or mentally ill defendants who had threatened, bullied or physically attacked their previous attorneys. Some were charged with gang violence, sex offenses, or even homicides. Every single one of them got my most vigorous defense. Why? Because I take the ethical duties of my profession seriously. And you know what? I often found that even those who had been through the system before and distrusted lawyers came around to realizing that I was there to fight hard for their interests.
Yes, most people who get arrested are guilty of some crime. After all, if the majority of busted suspects were innocent, it would be time to completely dismantle our justice system and start over. But the justice system is fraught with human error at all levels – police, prosecutors, witnesses, judges and jurors. I’ve seen it firsthand. Mistakes are made in even the most serious “cut and dried” cases. Look at the spate of DNA-based exonerations in death penalty cases – these were absolutely innocent individuals who were sentenced to be executed. So, truly innocent people do get caught up and charged, and criminal defense lawyers are their last line of defense.
Even more commonly, criminal defendants may not be guilty of the specific charges against them. For example, what may appear at first to the cops and prosecutors as a felony burglary may only be a misdemeanor trespass, or what’s charged as a possession with intent to sell involving anabolic steroids may really be only a straight personal possession case. I’ve had tons of the latter. Without criminal defense attorneys, who’d aggressively fight for justice in these cases?
As you become more established as an attorney, you have more discretion as to which cases to accept. I stopped taking on assigned cases many years ago, but I always try to help anyone who comes my way, even if it means discounting my fee. The cases I take now are mostly in my wheelhouse of interest. I love anabolic steroid cases, research chemical investigations, sports doping accusations, and various dietary supplement matters because I know the subjects like the back of my hand and because I generally like the clients and they like me. Many remind me of training partners I’ve worn out through the decades in assorted gyms, lol.
But I sometimes accept other criminal cases if the accused is a bodybuilder, or if the matter presents a unique legal or factual issue or otherwise catches my attention. A couple years back I took on a case involving a violation of the federal Lacey Act for a client accused of smuggling the horn of an African black rhinoceros through an international airport. I learned a lot about the demand for such items in Asia and about rhinos as an endangered species due to poaching. I found the whole subject utterly fascinating, and the case ended with a great result for the client.
Recently a client came to me charged as one of those who unlawfully entered the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. I mentioned it to a lawyer colleague who asked me how I could possibly represent such a person. She was genuinely concerned about me and my firm, and even advised that I not take the case because of potential public backlash. That struck me as professional cowardice. Everyone deserves a vigorous defense. Whether or not we agree with their politics, or approve of what they might have done, should never be a factor. And no lawyer should ever be judged by who their clients are. I defend all of my clients with passion, confidence and a clear conscience. I consider it my duty, honor and privilege.
Rick Collins, Esq., CSCS [https://rickcollins.com/] is the lawyer who members of the bodybuilding community and dietary supplement industry turn to when they need legal help or representation. [© Rick Collins, 2021. All rights reserved. For informational purposes only, not to be construed as legal or medical advice.]
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