According to law of the UK, if a barrister becomes aware that his client is guilty of the charges against him, he may no longer argue a "not guilty" plea on his behalf. While this law has been, and will continue to be abused, it would be nice to have at least the principle functioning in US laws.
While this is not an express law in the USA , there is still a legal requirement that officers of the court "tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." We saw this law utterly eviscerated by Steve Feldman in his defense of Child Killer David Westerfeld who continued to advance a "third party did the killing" scenario despite knowing that his client had killed Danielle Van Dam. How? Because he had been brokering a deal between the DA and Westerfeld to reveal the whereabouts of her body in return for waiving the death penalty. When the body was found by police, the deal fell through and Feldman defended a man he knew to be Denielle's killer as though he was innocent.
It is this kind of cynical, illegal, and immoral behavior, on the part of defense lawyers that has given men like Cochrane, who were willing to do "whatever it takes" to win, a bad name.
Friends, past injustices don't justify present day ones. Didn't your parents ever tell you that "two wrongs don't make a right?"
(yes, yes, I know three lefts make a right)
- SEAGOON