I recently had a meeting with a client who appeared genuinely upset that I did not speak more dramatically on his behalf in front of the judge at a recent court hearing. He expected that I would respond aggressively with a loud denial each time the DA said he committed a crime. This hearing had nothing to do with whether he committed the crime, but was a motions hearing focused on the admissibility of some prior bad acts evidence (which was not that bad).
In this Attempted Sexual Assault case, expectations went awry. After watching years of television, my client wanted a dramatic response each time a negative inference was cast on him. While I admit that some criminal defense attorneys in Arapahoe and Douglas County put on a show for their clients in court, I save it for the jury. Nothing else really matters in a case of this type. Judges don’t make a decision on whether my client committed a crime – that is the job of the jury during deliberations after the jury trial.
Defendants Must Trust Their Lawyer
This is also about trust. Do you trust your lawyer in Denver, Jefferson or Adams County to do their best for you? If you can’t recognize when your lawyer is doing good or bad work (like a doctor indentifying your ailement), it comes down to trust. Law is a complicated system and those lawyers trained by the experience of many years should be trusted. My client did not know the goal of the hearing or how to maximize the chances of success at this hearing on the bad acts evidence. He needs to have an attitude of trust when technical issues are decided which are beyond his level of expertise.
At Trial, Lawyers Need the Jury to Trust Them Too
The Jury trial is the next phase following the motions hearing of any criminal case. At this point, each lawyer has their own style and approach to winning over the jury. Mine is not to yell or become dramatic. I feel like you lose the trust of jurors when you act in a dramatic fashion. I want them to believe me when I speak, so I never exaggerate. I speak calmly and thoughtfully over each phrase. Everything I say, and everything I don’t say, is calculated to build their trust in me. I never promise them something I can’t deliver. I also work carefully on the timing of my disclosures, giving them more than they expected. This builds trust.
As a criminal defendant, you must find an experienced criminal defense attorney you trust when your life is on the line. Call our lawyers at 303-731-0719 for a free consultation at our office. Together, we can protect your future.