Hypothetically, my daughter is a defense attorney. My son is dating a woman who, while driving under the influence, kills my cousin’s 16-year-old daughter and her 2-year-old child. My son asks his sister to defend his girlfriend—would that be legally allowed? For context, my cousin’s father is my mother’s brother.

  • Sibbo@sopuli.xyz
    144·
    2 days ago

    Hypothetically, your daughter is a defense attorney, so she is able to answer that question.

    • scarabic@lemmy.worldEnglish
      16·
      1 day ago

      My best friend is a public defender and he ranted to me recently about how his family still won’t ask him legal advice because he’s still the baby of the family.

      Being charitable… maybe the daughter has already weighed in on this and the parent is looking to cross check their answer?

    • 474D@lemmy.world
      63·
      2 days ago

      I was going to comment “IF ONLY YOU HAD A LAWYER TO ASK” but you’re much nicer

  • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
    41·
    2 days ago

    Your cousin’s daughter was made pregnant and gave birth at 14, then she and her toddler were killed by a drunk driver? I sincerely hope this story really is hypothetical. Otherwise my deepest sympathy to her, and condolences to anyone who loved those poor children.

    Oh, and your daughter should refer the case because whether or not it’s legal, she could be forced into a position that destroys her relationships in the family.

  • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
    14·
    2 days ago

    This would depend on the state laws and bar association. She should call her bar and ask them. every situation is different. the ultimate question is can your daughter provide the GF a competent, and vigorous legal defense?

    I’d personally suggest that would be difficult, given the relationship to victims as well. that represents a personal conflict of interest in which I believe- though I’m not a lawyer- they’d normally have to recuse themselves from.

  • RoidingOldMan@lemmy.world
    5·
    2 days ago

    Is there any chance the daughter would be on the witness list or be deposed? Because I think that’s the line where it would stop making any sense. A judge isn’t gonna want one of the lawyers on the witness list, because then do they cross examine themselves? It would require a 2nd lawyer for at least those parts.

  • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
    23·
    1 day ago

    She sounds like a real piece of shit who doesn’t deserve a defense, but that’s just me talking.

    • backalleycoyote@lemmy.today
      8·
      16 hours ago

      Defense isn’t about helping people escape consequences, it’s about making sure they receive a fair trial and the consequences are appropriate for their crime. Even with this system there are still wrongful convictions and police/prosecutorial misconduct.

      Many years ago we had a deadly DUI crash that the local news went apeshit over because the story was easy to hype. Drunk driver kills a young mom, dad, and their 3yo daughter. It was covered non-stop, until it came out during the trial mom and dad were high as kites on meth and pulled out in front of the drunk driver when they should have waited for him to cross the intersection. Dude still got convicted, he was driving drunk and killed three people, but his sentence reflected the dad’s impaired driving and what that contributed. Also, as soon as the news couldn’t sob story their coverage they dropped it, barely a blip when the verdict came out.

      • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
        1·
        1 hour ago

        Thanks for this. I know this intellectually but admittedly I can be emotional just thinking about how I’d feel if a drunk driver killed multiple people I care about, or myself.