Full disclosure to your criminal defense attorney is always the best policy.
Unfortunately, sometimes individuals accused of a crime are hesitant to share all the details of their case with their criminal defense attorney. This usually happens for one of the following reasons:
- Fear of Judgment: The accused individual may be afraid to disclose all the details related to the alleged crime, especially if they feel embarrassed or ashamed about some aspect of the incident. This fear is groundless, because a criminal defense attorney never passes judgement on his clients or makes them feel bad or unworthy. Instead a criminal defense attorney works hard to help every client achieve the best possible outcome to their case.
- Desire to Protect Another Individual: Sometimes defendants omit vital facts about their case because they don’t want to implicate other individuals. It is very important to remember that anything you tell your attorney will be privileged information that cannot be shared with anyone else. You should tell your attorney all the facts and then you can decide together whether it is in your best interests to use these facts in your defense arguments.
- Misconceptions about Attorney’s Role: Some individuals may believe that by insisting they are innocent rather that sharing incriminating details, they can gain their attorney’s sympathy and this will somehow make the attorney work harder and affect the outcome of the case. The reality is, criminal defense attorneys work equally hard to protect the rights of both innocent and guilty clients. There is no benefit to telling your attorney you are innocent when you are not.
Consequences of Withholding Information from Your Attorney
Withholding information from your attorney for any reason can be devastating to your case. The biggest issue is that without all the facts, your attorney may not be able to choose the best strategy for your case. For example, perhaps you insisted you were innocent of a crime and in fact were not even at the scene. Based on your word, your attorney will most likely focus on proving your alibi. If this alibi is proved false by the prosecution, your case will be over. Juries don’t like to be tricked and if they are convinced one piece of evidence is false they will view all of the defense’s evidence with prejudice. Had your attorney known the alibi was false, they could have pursued other more effective strategies for your defense.
Just like you wouldn’t leave out any of your symptoms when trying to get an accurate diagnosis from a doctor, you should never leave out any facts when trying to get the best possible criminal defense strategy from an attorney.
You Can Trust Dan E. Chambers 100 Percent
If you are looking for a criminal defense attorney who you can trust with every detail of your criminal case, you’ve found him in Dan E. Chambers. Please call 714-760-4088 now to schedule a free initial consultation with Dan.
