Many people have the wrong idea when they think about the criminal defense process. They sometimes see it as a way for lawyers and attorneys to let people get away with the crimes that they have carried out. They almost see the defense process as a negative thing, like the lawyers are doing nothing but keeping the guilty out of jail so that they can keep committing crimes.
In reality, though, criminal defense is about ensuring that the process is fair. Prosecutors have certain things that they must prove. Judges have certain sentences that they can hand out. Juries have certain obligations they must adhere to. If there were not criminal defense lawyers, the system would not be fair at all.
There are countless examples of people who are sent to prison when they really did not do anything wrong. For example, one man was convicted and sent to death row. He stayed there for 30 years. Less than a week before the state was going to execute him, someone else stepped forward and admitted to carrying out the murder that the first man had been convicted of.
The system got it wrong, and it did so with defense lawyers in the mix. One can only imagine how much more often this would happen if there were no defense lawyers to demand that standards of proof are met and that evidence is conclusive. These lawyers are instrumental in helping the process work so that all people get the fair trial to which they are entitled in Ohio.
If you're going to trial, make sure you know all of your defense options.
Source: Huffington Post Crime, "Prosecutorial Misconduct and the Public's Perception of Criminal Defense," Adam Banner, accessed Dec. 10, 2015