The Lincoln Lawyer: Legal Ethics in Criminal Defense

Introduction: Mickey Haller and the Criminal Justice System

In The Lincoln Lawyer, a legal thriller novel, Michael Connelly delves deep into the inner dynamics of the criminal justice system, highlighting the disconnect between the system's underlying idealistic philosophies and the often ethically questionable practical realities of how the system actually plays out. The protagonist, Mickey Haller, is a successful and well-known Los Angeles criminal defense attorney and trial lawyer who operates his practice out of the back seat of his chauffeured Lincoln Town Car. Haller displays a highly cynical attitude regarding the nature of the justice system, asserting that "[t]he law was not about truth. It was about negotiation, amelioration, manipulation." Haller saw himself as a mere "mechanic," working with a "large rusting machine that sucked up people and lives and money." His fifteen years of wheeling and dealing in the system — representing gangsters, drug dealers, prostitutes, and thugs — led him to conclude that the idealistic "notions about the virtue of the adversarial system, of the system's checks and balances, of the search for truth, had long since eroded." (p. 27).

In spite of his sardonic approach toward his work, Haller is required to abide by the State Bar's Rules of Professional Conduct, to support the Constitution of the United States, and to faithfully carry out the duties of an attorney to the best of his knowledge and ability. His legal and professional responsibilities are put to the test when he takes on the representation of Louis Roulet, a wealthy Los Angeles realtor charged with attempted murder and attempted rape of a woman working as a prostitute. Roulet emphatically declared his innocence and refused to accept a plea deal. His account of the events giving rise to the charge was initially convincing. However, Haller's investigation began uncovering many inconsistencies in Roulet's story, and Haller eventually realized that his client had lied to him — Roulet was, in fact, guilty. Nonetheless, as a defense attorney, Haller's duty is to represent his client, not to proceed according to the client's possible guilt or innocence: "I didn't deal in guilt and innocence, because everybody was guilty. Of something," Haller stated. (p. 27).

Representing a Guilty Client: Duty, Strategy, and Reasonable Doubt

Haller's role as a defense attorney is to hold the government to its burden of proving criminal guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The Due Process Clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution require that where a defendant is charged with a crime, the state must prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Although not expressly stated in the Constitution, the presumption of innocence is a basic component of a fair trial. The prosecution bears the burden of proving each element of the charge beyond a reasonable doubt. Thus, according to Haller, "[i]t didn't matter in terms of the strategy of the case whether the defendant 'did it' or not. What mattered was the evidence against him — the proof — and if and how it could be neutralized." Accordingly, Haller could take a guilty client's case to trial and win without any moral qualms.

Haller's "job was to bury the proof, to color the proof a shade of gray. Gray was the color of reasonable doubt." (p. 53). Moreover, a lawyer is obligated to abide by a client's decisions concerning the objectives of representation. In a criminal case, the lawyer must adhere to the client's decisions regarding which plea to enter, whether to waive a jury trial, and whether the client will testify. Here, Roulet insisted on his constitutional rights to a jury trial and to testify in his own defense. Employing this approach, Haller zealously litigated and advocated on Roulet's behalf throughout the trial, even though he had come to detest his dishonest client and believed him to be guilty. Haller pursued an excellent defense at trial even as he began violating his own rule of ignoring the irrelevant question of whether a client was guilty.

Conclusion: Ethics at the Heart of Criminal Defense

In conclusion, The Lincoln Lawyer raises a variety of complex legal and ethical issues confronting a criminal defense attorney in the criminal justice system. Through Mickey Haller's representation of Roulet and his failure to adequately serve Menendez, Connelly dramatizes the tensions between zealous advocacy, professional ethics, and personal conscience that define criminal defense work.

References

Connelly, Michael (2005). The Lincoln Lawyer: A Novel. Hachette Book Group. Kindle Edition.

Rules of Professional Conduct, rule 3-700; rule 3-500.