Will Your Lawyer Talk to God for You

By anthony sylvestre

I suppose as a defense attorney, every now and then you have to take a step back from this lawyer thing and you ponder on whether your craft is dubious as they put it; whether it helps to empower those in society or further disadvantage them.

This is the feeling that consumed me as I watched the television the other night and saw the images of mothers, sisters, fathers, brothers, relatives and friends drenched in the rain, marching through the streets of Belize City to register their frustration, discontent and displeasure with the spate of crime in our country and government’s seeming impotence to deal with it.

“Will your lawyer talk to God for you,” one of the placards held by one of the participants read. Naturally, it caught my attention. The words of the placard tell what seems to be the consensus opinion of attorneys these days. That is, that morality or ethics do not constrain us, don’t bother us, don’t matter to us; that we will do what we have to do to get our client off and are not troubled with what God has to say.

This perception, of course, is not true, albeit how strongly held it is. Attorneys, like other professions, are bound by a professional code of conduct and ethics and are not magicians in court or “make people” get off as is commonly believed. Still, not many believe this and we are continuously viewed as less than savoury characters.

This stigma more oftentimes is cast on defense attorneys. Many question how it is that so and so attorney can defend so and so person who has been accused of killing this person or the other. This is so because if we see a person on the nightly news being taken to court in bangles, 9 out of 10 times we believe that person is guilty. Thus, when we hear of a senseless gunman emptying bullets crazily in broad daylight on a busy street, causing the death of two or three and injuries to others, we cannot comprehend how any self respecting citizen can stand up in court and defend him.

My colleague loves to say that many spout this argument until one of their loved ones is accused of a crime and they need a lawyer to defend her.

But watching that march for justice on the news on Monday, it is clear that the argument of victims of crime carries the sway. And it should. Really, too many accused persons are walking down the steps of the Supreme Court a couple years after being arrested for very, very serious crimes. I don’t think any of the participants in the march on Sunday have revenge in their eyes or is lobbying for the wanton sweeping arrest and jailing of citizens. The cry is for justice. And it seems to me that there is an understanding that as the wheels of justice churn, there will inevitably be slip ups now and then. But there seem to be just too many slip ups in the criminal justice system causing too many defendants to either be acquitted or have their cases thrown out for lack of evidence. This then, I suppose, is where the lawyers begin to be viewed as compounding the problem. They are viewed as facilitating this breakdown because as I said before, we “get people off”.

The truth is, however, that the entire criminal justice system which includes the police, courts and rehabilitation spots, needs to be looked at so that a balance can be created in the system. It is clear that there is an imbalance in the system skewed more in favour of the defendant. I say this because I see this every day in the system. When accused persons are acquitted because they have legal representation, it is not the doing of the attorney- it is because of a weakness somewhere in the system.

Justice is famously depicted as a blindfolded lady to signify her impartially and fairness; to signify that justice is meted out objectively, without fear or favour, regardless of identity, money, power, or weakness. This depiction of Justice these days is scoffed at. The blindfolds are now viewed as covering the gaping holes of a blind person who cannot see justice if it were perched on her nose.

Mr. Government, please do something, all people want is justice.

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