Law and Legal Significance of Michael Connelly's the Lincoln Lawyer Book Report

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Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly

In The Lincoln Lawyer, a legal thriller novel, Michael Connelly delves deep into the inner-dynamics of 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 displayed 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 15 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 somewhat sardonic approach toward his job, Haller is required to abide by the California State Bar's Rules of Professional Conduct, to support the Constitutions of the United States and California, 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 representation of Louis Roulet, a wealthy and slick 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 take a deal. Roulet's version of facts about the incident 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 of the charges.

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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).

Haller's role as a defense attorney is to hold the government to its burden of proving criminal guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Indeed, 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 mentioned 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 guilty client's case to trial and win without any moral quams.

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 decision, as to a plea to be entered, whether to waive jury trial, and whether the client will testify. Here, Roulet insisted on his Constitutional rights to jury trial and….....

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