Marcia Clark Quotes

There's a lot of money with a lot of big law firms that have a tremendous amount at stake by getting the right language to convince the right jury that my client is either innocent or that the opposition is guilty.

I had 24 hours to prepare. If this were a criminal case 5 or 6 lawyers would have weeks to prepare.

I know O.J. better than anyone on the legal team. There are so many things I know about his personality. My job is really strategy and liaison between the lawyers and O.J.

The prosecution has to go with the evidence and the facts and tell the story as it happened. The defense has more creative freedom. All you have to do is look for a defense that works. But it doesn't have to be the truth. Sometimes you get lucky and it is, but sometimes you don't, and either way, it doesn't matter.

Around the courthouse when defense lawyers are chatting about their cases, the only question they ask each other is can you put your guy on the stand? Those conversations always assume the defendant is guilty. The question is just about the degree of difficulty in presenting a defense.

I had no money nor friends to prepare for the trial till last night.

When you're thrust into litigation, you obviously have to make sure you're prepared to deal with that.

When I was a prosecutor in San Francisco I would get advice on trying cases from public defenders and defense attorneys.

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

Lawyers are very, very good at keeping you out of prison, but they will sacrifice your reputation and credibility to do so.

The trial of a case is a three-legged stool - a judge and two advocates.

In the courtroom, it's where a lawyer really becomes an actor. There's a very fine line between delivering a monologue in a play and delivering a monologue to a jury. I've always felt that way - I've been in a lot of courtrooms. The best lawyers are really theatrical.

I will defend anyone as long as the client gives me total control of the case and pays up front.

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

A lawyer wants to get his client off the hook. And even if he knows the client is guilty, he is going to find ways and means of getting him off the hook.

As a lawyer, particularly in criminal law, you really do have to try to tell your story to the jury and hope that the judge makes rulings that allows your story to get through.

North Carolinians know what a fair trial looks like. It includes witnesses. It includes documents.

Government lawyers, like private ones, face the problem routinely of aiding in the defense and development of positions in whose correctness they don't believe.

I will be the defense attorney for all Italians.

This matter is in litigation. All of you know lawyers. They are adamant that you don't say anything.

I get paid for seeing that my clients have every break the law allows. I have knowingly defended a number of guilty men. But the guilty never escape unscathed. My fees are sufficient punishment for anyone.

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.

My mother negotiated a plea deal, and my father went to trial. I think one thing we notice in their case that kind of stands out is how, in some ways, arbitrary the outcomes in the criminal justice system can be. And they did basically the same thing, identical thing.

I am not necessarily my clients. I will seek to defend them, to vindicate their rights but that doesn't mean that I necessarily think that what they did was proper.

The great joy of being a prosecutor is that you don't take whatever case walks in the door. You evaluate the case; you make your best judgement. You only go forward if you believe that the defendant is guilty.