If you are facing criminal charges, it can be easy to want to bend the facts a bit and make yourself look a little better. This is completely understandable, especially if you’re talking with police or a prosecutor. However, bending the truth or outright lying to your criminal defense attorney is a major issue that can greatly complicate your case. We need you to be completely honest with us, and we will return the favor by being very honest with you. In today’s blog, we explain why it’s so important for a client and lawyer to be honest with one another.
Our Commitment To Honesty
Let’s begin by explaining why it’s so important for the client to be open and honest with their defense lawyer. For starters, in order to provide the best defense, we need to understand the whole story. We’re not going to slip these details to the prosecution so that they can earn a conviction, as this would be illegal and get any lawyer disbarred. Rather, we need this information so that we can plan for any narratives the other side may work to build.
For example, let’s say that you’ve sworn to us that you were not at a house party the night that a crime took place. We take your word for it and plan to make the crux of our defense that it’s impossible for you to have committed a crime because you were not at the scene. During trial not only do witnesses place you at the scene, but cell phone footage shows you at the house for an extended period of time. Now your lawyer needs to think on their feet and shift their defense plan because you lied. If you tell us the truth, we can assume that the prosecution will be able to prove that you were at the scene, and we’ll be able to spend our time building other defense narratives that aren’t rooted in a lie. If we know how the prosecution is likely to put forth their case, it’s easier for us to plan a defense to the points they’ll likely make, in turn helping your case.
Also, it’s important to be truthful because you are protected by attorney-client privilege. Anything you tell your lawyer will remain private, so you’ll want to tell them the whole truth and let them determine the best path forward. Perhaps that’s through a specific defense plan, or perhaps it involves pushing for a certain plea deal. Nothing you tell your lawyer can be used against you in court.
Conversely, we always want to be open and honest with our clients. If it’s going to be a tough case to win, we’ll be honest with you and go over all your options, including working towards a reduced plea deal. If we see an opportunity or believe we have a strong case, we’ll happily explain why we think this is the case. We want you to be informed every step of the way, and that begins by being honest with our clients.
We’ve oftentimes been called a “straight shooter” by our previous clients, and we take that as a compliment. We’re not here to blow smoke up your rear end and give you false hope. We’ll be honest with you so that you can prepare for the most likely outcomes. We’ll go to bat for you and put forth the strongest defense, but we’ll be honest about your chances along the way.
If you want to connect with a team of straight shooters who will do everything they can to help you achieve a favorable outcome, reach out to Avery and the team at Appelman Law Firm today at (952) 224-2277.
