As a New Jersey criminal attorney defending individuals charged with Megan’s Law crimes such as child molestation, Internet predation, endangerment of minors, inappropriate sexual contact, child pornography, sexual attraction and aggravated assault on a child, I am often They ask, “How can you represent someone who did such a thing?” The answer is that I enjoy it.
To begin with, it is important to remember that criminal lawyers do not endorse the crime or the alleged offender. Our job is to examine, and then challenge or discredit, potentially incriminating evidence produced by the state against our client. This is the only way to ensure that the police and courts give everyone the full protection of our legal system. We prevent them from convicting defenders until after the state has proven their guilt beyond a doubt.
Our sex crimes clients are flesh and blood people to us, not mere names in a newspaper article or faceless monsters. They can be anyone. Male or female. A pillar of the community or a mocking bum. First-time or repeat offender. Some earn millions of dollars, others are unemployed. But they are all people who are very afraid, and rightly so. We understand that. Our sex crime clients are not just numbers and statistics, and neither are their alleged victims. They are someone’s child, parent, aunt or uncle, brother or sister, best friend or neighbor. Everyone is entitled to the protection of the Constitution. In Megan’s Law cases, even that protection needs protection.
Vigorous defense of an alleged child molester, Internet predator, or child pornographer not only protects the constitutional rights of the defendant, it protects the Constitution itself. Experienced defense attorneys look for flaws in the government’s case that violates a person’s rights and allows unreliable evidence to be introduced in the case. Did the defendant have a lawyer at all critical stages? Were all searches and investigations carried out legally? Was the arrest constitutional? Was it a voluntary and informed confession? Was there entrapment? These protections are not loopholes through which guilty defendants can squeeze. They are fundamental protections built into our justice system that help ensure the fairness of a prosecution and the validity of a verdict.
People accused of child sexual abuse are in particular need of these protections. Despite the Constitution’s statement that they are innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, in reality almost everyone presumes they are guilty, even before the evidence is known. Friends stop calling. Family members keep their distance. Employers reduce them. Customers go elsewhere. Once a person is charged with a sex crime, their life will never be the same, even if no evidence is ever produced. No other crime is like this.
Representing alleged sex offenders is a special challenge for a defense attorney. A Megan’s Law defendant may have committed reprehensible acts. Maybe he didn’t. The prosecution will work hard to prove that she did it. The defense will scrutinize and analyze that evidence. We will present it in the most favorable way for our client. We will voice all your defenses. But defense attorneys do not judge defendants. Juries do that. We’re just making sure the Constitution keeps working… My pleasure.