Alan Dershowitz Quotes

I think most defense attorneys honestly believe the principle that says, 'Better 10 guilty go free than even one possibly innocent person be convicted.'

I think most defense attorneys know, to some extent, their clients are guilty.

The first thing a good lawyer does is immediately presume the guilt of his client.

If everyone charged with crimes suddenly exercised his constitutional rights, there would not be enough judges, lawyers, or prison cells to deal with the ensuing tsunami of litigation.

Lawyers claim that their clients have been grossly mistreated, which is what criminal defense lawyers are paid to do.

Going to trial with a lawyer who considers your whole life-style a Crime in Progress is not a happy prospect.

I believe that even if a criminal defendant has committed a heinous wrong, they should still be treated with respect from everyone in the criminal justice system, including prosecutors

The criminal defense attorney is misunderstood if not despised by most of society. It doesn't matter if we believe in our adversarial system and the ideal that everyone charged with a crime is entitled to a vigorous defense. Ideals give away to reality - defense lawyers working loopholes and angles to get their clients off.

In the real world, some defense lawyers never have an innocent client in their whole career.

As a defense lawyer, he refused to condemn his clients. Everyone else in the system-the cops, the prosecutors, the juries and judges-would take care of that; they didn't need his help.

I always received much more satisfaction as a defense attorney in obtaining an acquittal for a client than I ever have as a D.A. in obtaining a conviction. All my interests and sympathies tend to be on the side of the individual as opposed to the state.

I tell my students, if you ever become comfortable with your role as criminal defense lawyer, it's time to quit. It should be a constant source of discomfort, because you're dealing with incredible moral ambiguity, and you've been cast into a role which is not enviable.

In a democratic country, when a man is accused, he's accused from a document issued by the public attorney.

The vast majority of A.D.A.s put everything on the line to make sure justice is served. That's what I love about prosecutors and the New York police.

Technology is neutral: It convicts and finds innocents. We must make it a regularized part of the system, giving defendants access to DNA testing and evidence whenever it might be relevant.

I don't really want to have any part of getting guilty people off.

Ask any experienced defense lawyer: the real risks are for an accused person who is innocent. A guilty defendant has many more options available.

Since the Puffy Combs case in New York, I will not try any more criminal cases.

All lawyers are the natural enemies of the police.

Defense lawyers try to find the humanity in the people they represent, no matter what they may have done. We resist the phrase “those people” because it suggests too clear a line between us and them.

To declare that in the administration of criminal law the end justifies the means -- to declare that the Government may commit crimes in order to secure conviction of a private criminal -- would bring terrible retribution.

The role of the defense is to be an advocate for their client, regardless of whether he did it or not, within the bounds of the law.

My first job out of law school was representing people on death row in North Carolina, where I often saw the impact of hasty prosecutions.

[Alan] Dershowitz has also offered to defend Osama bin Laden in court, saying it would be an act of high patriotism. It's kind of too bad there isn't going to be a trial. Having Dershowitz defend him could be Osama's only shot at not being the least popular person in the courtroom.

An innocent man, if accused, can be acquitted; a guilty man, unless accused, cannot be condemned. It is, however, more advantageous to absolve an innocent than not to prosecute a guilty man.