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What Should I Tell My Criminal Lawyer When We Meet?
Andrew Byrnes Law Group • March 12, 2020
Ronan Keating, the Irish singer, may have actually been onto something when he sung the famous lyric “you say it best… when you say nothing at all”
When it comes time to meet your criminal defence lawyer, the first thing you may want to do is tell them your side of the story. You’ve probably heard about legal professional privilege (the obligation on lawyers to keep confidential all communications they have with their clients for the dominant purpose of providing legal advice). Time to get the advice that you need by telling your criminal defence lawyer everything. That will help set the record straight, right?
Strangely, however, your criminal lawyer may actually tell you not to tell them your full story just yet and may focus on what the police say. Your lawyer may tell you that they do not want to hear your response at all yet, or may only want to hear a specific response from you but not the full response.
Why? There are a few reasons why.
1. The Golden Thread
Firstly, there’s one fundamental rule that underpins all criminal prosecutions. If you have been charged with something, it is not your obligation to prove your innocence. It is the prosecution’s job to make out its case against you and prove you are guilty of the offence with which you have been charged beyond a reasonable doubt. This has been referred to as the “golden thread” of English Criminal Law (Woolmington v DPP [1935] UKHL 1) and ” a cardinal principle of our system of justice” in Australia (Sorby v Commonwealth (1983) 152 CLR 281).
This is important because if there are deficiencies in the prosecution case such that, at the hearing, reasonable doubt exists regarding your guilt of the offence, you must be found not guilty of the offence.
As such, the first thing a competent criminal lawyer may want to do is see what evidence the police and prosecutors have to support the charge laid against you before hearing the full story from your perspective.
2. Legal Profession’s Conduct Rules
Secondly, the rules of conduct that govern lawyers play an important part in your criminal defence lawyer asking you not to tell them absolutely everything yet.
All lawyers must adhere to strict ethics standards conduct rules which govern the way that Court proceedings occur, including the questions that are asked and the way arguments are made.
If you say something which amounts to an admission to having committed the offence the way the prosecution says it occurred, your criminal defence lawyer becomes limited regarding the way that they can present your case in Court.
If you make an admission of guilt to your lawyer, your lawyer can still represent you and enter a plea of not guilty. The rules do not prohibit this. Your lawyer can still take the prosecution to task and test the strength of the case against you by cross-examining prosecution witnesses and closing the case on the basis that the prosecution has not proven your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Crucially, though, a lawyer in this situation must not lie and must not knowingly mislead the Court about the evidence and about what their client’s response to an allegation is.
If your lawyer is put in a position where you wish to say in Court you are innocent or the offence did not happen when you have told them you are guilty, then your lawyer may have to cease representing you because your lawyer cannot lead a case which is not consistent with what you have told them to be the truth.
Okay, so what do I do?
When you meet a criminal defence lawyer for the first time, bring with you any documents that you have received from the police which set out the case against you.
Then, let your lawyer lead you through the interview by asking you the questions they need to ask so that they obtain enough of a picture from you about the situation so that they can advise you about what you should do.
Don’t start telling your story unless your lawyer tells you to, and even then, let them stop you if they need to stop you.
Andrew Byrnes Law Group are leading criminal defence lawyers that are highly experienced in criminal matters. We will fearlessly fight for your rights in your case. As such, if you need high quality legal representation in your criminal matter, please contact us today.
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