A Colorado criminal law attorney has done his or her job well when not only is the client’s rights protected and the sentence proper, but when an even greater crime is stopped in the process. Just such a thing happened recently, when two clinic workers who had been arrested and charged on drug charges were sentenced to time served after they cut a deal to bring down their boss, who operated a clinic that allegedly served as a “pill mill,” freely distributing drugs such as oxycodone to addicts for purposes of substance abuse.
The judge seemed to feel that both women had stepped up to the plate and accepted responsibility for their own actions and roles in the drug distribution, and had on top of accepting responsibility, done a service to the state in cutting the deal to provide valuable information to the district attorney that shut down the entire operation.
Criminal law is strange and complicated, and not always black and white, as much as we would often like it to be. People are not just heroes or villains-sometimes bad situations drive people to take horrible actions, and sometimes those people are able to reconcile with society, reform, and rebuild their lives. It is the job of a strong and qualified criminal law attorney to stand up for the rights of the accused, yes, but also to encourage a guilty client to take responsibility for their actions.
People tend to view defense attorneys as the “bad guys” in the black and white arena of criminal law, but it’s just not the case. Very often, defense attorneys encourage their clients not only to plead guilty, but to cooperate fully with police investigations, and provide any information they can to help bring real criminals to justice.
