Could You Defend Jeffrey Epstein?

Based on the facts that are presently out there, I would not want to defend Jeffrey Epstein.  Yet, if push came to shove, I know that I could represent him, and represent him effectively. 

I know this because I have defended all kinds of people over the years.  Many were good people who made a few mistakes, but some were career criminals hardwired to engage in anti-social behavior.  I have never lost sleep worrying about the character of the person I was representing.  Instead, I have trained myself to ignore the occasional judgmental thought that crosses my mind by keeping focused on the task of defending my client. 

  Defending a client means doing everything I can to protect my client at all costs, at all stages of the case.  I protect his or her presumption of innocence, I protect my client’s Constitutional rights to a fair trial and, when the case goes to trial, I fight to make it is difficult as possible for the state to prove each element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.  That will be my job so long as I participate in an adversary system of justice under a constitution that has enshrined the protection of individual liberties.  It is not a perfect system of justice by any means, but is happens to be better than any other system of justice invented by mankind. 

  I truly believe that when lawyers put on a zealous defense, even for a Jeffrey Epstein, they are protecting everyone’s constitutional rights.  This may seem corny or even naïve, but I truly believe that if skilled attorneys were unwilling to go all-out to defend the Jeffrey Epsteins of the world, then we would live in a world in which the severity of the charges would determine the likelihood of conviction; in which the media, and not our court system, would be the final arbiter of justice.  That is not a world I want to live in.