What would a defence lawyer have to do, if their client was pleading not guilty but privately confessed to their lawyer that they were actually guilty?
by 
lady fuschia
ANSWERS: 13
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I'm not a lawyer so I don't know what the legal thing would be..as an officer of the court I think it would be the obligation of the lawyer to give up that information...I think it would be the right thing to do. But everyone deserves to be defended...and some lawyers probably would rather not "know" what the real truth is...winning a case is the most important thing...the truth of a thing is oftentimes the least important, unfortunately. :(
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S/he should instruct the defendant to plead guilty. The defence lawyer is required to present the case for the defendant in the best possible way, but is definitely required *not* to lie. If the defendant refuses to plead guilty, it would be asking the lawyer to lie on their behalf, which they should not do. The lawyer would therefore have to withdraw from the case.
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Isn't there a client confidentiality here though? despite earlier answers
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Since he's a lawyer, drowning himself would be a good start.
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His or her lawyer is obligated to defend them to the best of his or her ability. The lawyers job is to make sure the defendents rights don't get violated.
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A lawyers job is to defend whether guilty or innocent.
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This is part of the reason I didn't want to be a lawyer. The lawyer's job, as mentioned before, is to give their client the best defense possible. What that would mean is not placing their client on the stand, perhaps choosing a different strategy for defense. While the lawyer cannot instruct his client to purjure himself, it is actually against the ethics of the profession (if I understand it correctly) to give that privileged information to anybody else.
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A person is entitled to a fair trial under the law regardless if the person is guilty or innocent. The defence attorney is to aid the accused through the process and do his best on the client's behalf. Today's legal structure is difficult for anyone to appreciate. Especially if they do not have years of training in how the system works. An accused has the right to be represented by someone who knows the system. In this way, the defence lawyer acts in a moral way, which is specifically required by law.
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Here's an interesting essay from a defense lawyer that doesn't quite address the question, but does give some insight into what it's like defending someone whom the lawyer suspects is most likely guilty: http://www.davidfeige.com/howtodefendpage.htm As for the question at hand, my understanding is that main choices a lawyer has if a client admits guilt are: 1) Withdraw from representing the client 2) Advise the client to admit guilt in court 3) Continue to defend the client, but structure the defense such that it does not commit a fraud on the court. Thus, the client is NOT put on the witness stand and asked "Did you commit this crime?", because the client's denial would be a fraud. As such, the defense may simply be to keep quiet and let the prosecution attempt to prove their case.
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The lawyer would have to continue representing the client that is his job, he has taken an oath to defend the client. However, under no circumstance who he allow the client to take the witness stand.
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If the lawyer chooses to continue representing the client he must first advise the client of the limitations of his representation. The lawyer can still put the client on the stand, but he cannot ask a question that he knows the answer would be a lie. Thus, as a practical matter, no attorney would put the client on the stand. However, attorney client privilege still applies so the lawyer cannot reveal his clients guilt.
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Attorney client privilege applies. Some say the lawyer can't represent someone because the defense would be a lie. That is not really true. Why? Because, the jury determines the truth. Not the lawyer, judge or defendant . A lawyer is required by the cannon of ethics to zealously represent a client. It is their job to force the prosecution to make the case. They must keep their client's secret unless failure to reveal it would place another person's life in danger. So, it is a lawyer's job to be quiet and allow the system to do it's job. They are not lying by doing so, in fact by forcing the system to do it's job correctly in the big picture by protecting the rights of the guilty, all of our rights are protected. This is our duty as lawyers and advocates and citizens.
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The premise of fair criminal justice system is that the burden is on the state to establish guilt "beyond a reasonable doubt". There many reasons why we should to stick to that standard. It's not a good thing when a guilty person goes free, but it's also not a good thing when the state has low standards for establishing guilt.
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