There’s some nonsense on the interweb about Hillary Clinton when she was appointed by the court to represent an individual accused of assaulting a teen and how she cross-examined the 12-year old complainant and what this means about her as a person or some such thing. Rushing out the door now, but read for yourself here, here and here. Here‘s the story in question. I might have more on it later, I might not.

Update: Okay, I’m going to jump in. This whole “story” makes me rather upset. To portray her in a bad light because she did the very thing every competent criminal defense attorney should do just exemplifies the lack of understanding of the functioning and the importance of our adversarial system. So what if the victim was 12 years old? If the defense was that she was lying, then you have to go after her. What if she really was lying? What if she was and Hillary went soft on her? Would we be celebrating Hillary for effectively abandoning Constitution? Have we become that blinded by the media glare on sex crimes that we cannot recognize that every charge must be zealously defended or our rights will be eroded?

Lots of people are chiming in, with various views. Take this, for example:

Indeed, if the young victim were lying, one wonders why Hillary agreed to plead her client to “unlawful fondling of a minor under the age of 14, which carried a five-year sentence.”

And yes, I understand that even a child rapist is entitled to present a defense, but there are other ways to present a defense than by trying to destroy a complaining witness, especially where exoneration is not the goal, but conviction on a lesser charge, as in Hillary’s case. All-out destruction of the “opponent” is not often, if ever, required for effective representation. I’ve seen truly competent attorneys who manage to retain their moral integrity while carrying out their legal duty to their clients.

This monday morning quarterbacking is bullshit and offensive. It’s also disingenuous. At trial, the goal is the best possible outcome, be it a not guilty verdict or a guilty verdict on a lesser included. Why is “all-out” destruction of the opponent’s credibility not required? Why are we encouraging half-hearted lawyering? Different people have different styles and there is absolutely nothing wrong with what she did. Let’s see if you have the same feelings when you’re charged with a crime and your lawyer doesn’t ask the unpopular questions.

Tom, have you never gone to trial on a weak case? Have you never offered a plea bargain to a defendant despite knowing that you’d lose at trial? Then why this bs of “one wonders why Hillary agreed to plead her client”. You know damn well why.

It really is disgraceful that someone who fights to uphold the Constitutional rights of an accused individual is vilified in such a manner.

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