One of the hardest things a criminal defense attorney has to do is to explain to my client or my client’s family one harsh truth: “the criminal justice system does not care about you.”
I exaggerate, of course. Sometimes the judges, the prosecutors, and even the police really do care about a defendant as a person and want to see him or her succeed. There are many programs set up by the State with the goal “diverting” the accused, or offering them some form of rehabilitation. There is drug court, pre-trial intervention, domestic violence programs, and veteran’s court, among others. However, these programs, with limited exceptions, are designed for the person with no prior record or nearly no prior record. If you have had prior run-ins with the law, even if many years have passed, these programs will not be offered to you. In many cases, the law does not allow these programs to be offered to you.
“But I have a drug problem,” or “I am working and supporting my children.”
The system doesn’t care about you.
“I was doing well on probation and I just made a mistake.”
The system doesn’t care about you.
If you don’t believe me or think I am being too extreme, read Section 921.002(1)(b), Florida Statutes. That statute, or law, states in plain language that, “The primary purpose of sentencing is to punish the offender. Rehabilitation is a desired goal of the criminal justice system but is subordinate to the goal of punishment.”
In other words, once you’ve been accused, the system sees you as a lawbreaker and, while it would be nice if you straightened out and got the help and understanding that you need, first and foremost, you must be punished.
Or to say it one more time, the system does not care about you.
Of course, this is absurd, but it is a rare politician who is elected because they want to reduce the penalties for criminal offenders. Much more frequently being “tough on crime” is a great way to make a name for yourself in the state legislature. So this is how we got where we are today, with stricter and stricter laws being passed and a nearly complete disregard for reducing the rates of re-offense through rehabilitation, compassion, and understanding.
I’ve spent hundreds of hours speaking to client’s in the jail. Many, if not most, are there for driving and drug offenses. These people don’t need to be punished.
“But aren’t I innocent unless and until I am proven guilty?” Yes, under the Constitution, that is true, but this is not the way that many prosecutors think. When I sit in the jail or at my office and explain this to my clients, I often use a simile, an example, to describe the way prosecutors approach a case: They are like a horse pulling a carriage wearing blinders, so that nothing can distract them from the sides, while they maintain focus on the objective directly in front of them. That objective, as I have explained, is the conviction and ultimate punishment of you, the accused person.
Everything placed in front of them comes from the police. Too often, every word the police write down is taken as absolute truth by the prosecutor. The witnesses interviewed by the police are the only witnesses that matter to them, and every word they say to harm you is taken as the gospel. It is almost always the case that there will be no further investigation taken by the prosecutor. This is not meant as a criticism of any or all prosecutors’ character, but a result that necessarily follows from our pro-punishment, “tough on crime” society. There are too many cases and defendants for the prosecutors to take a critical look at any one case. They must rely on the information provided by the police.
This is why you need an aggressive defense attorney. If the prosecutor is the horse wearing blinders, then a good defense attorney is the loud banging noise and the flashing lights that can’t be ignored. We find the witnesses that the police ignored or overlooked. We put a version of the facts in front of the prosecutor that undermines their case. If they won’t look or listen, we take it to the judge. If the judge won’t look or listen, we can take it to a jury. You need an attorney that will fight for you, who will combat the narrative created by the police and placed in front of the prosecutors.
When the prosecution won’t listen and only views you as the sum of your prior record, you have to fight to be heard, to make them sit up and take notice.
The system doesn’t care about you. The system thinks you should be punished. The only way to win is to fight.
This is why we fight.