should I lie to my attorney if I know it Will only benefit my case

no replies....

Why do you think they call it DOPE?

Sure. Lawyers just love being surprised in court.

What a selfish jerk you are. Not only are you not taking any responsibility for your own actions AKA your admittance to actually having .14 grams of drugs, you're willing to possibly get your lawyer disbarred in the process and steal his livelihood, make him criminally liable, perhaps even lose his house and destroy his family if he has one.

And what do you think the police officer is going to do when you deny in court that like goofball legalesque Darwin Award winner, you gave permission to the police officer to search the other car? He's going to deny your claim and in the eyes of the court it will be your word vs his. You will lose this legal challenge simply because of this statement you made here:


If you didn't have this prior drug possession charge then you might have had a better leg to stand on when contesting the claim you gave the police officer permission for the search.

Clearly with this recent drug possession charge, you're mentally incapable of understanding the idiom, "once bitten, twice shy." I'd suggest you humbly throw yourself onto the mercy of the court while using "twice bitten, thrice shy" as your personal mantra.

If your attorney finds out, s/he will quit your case in the middle - a sure-fire clue to other lawyers in the area that you are a problematic client. Most will not take your case.

Feel like self-representation? Yeah, there's nothing that could possibly go wrong with that.

Based on your description, lying to your lawyer will HARM your case.

What happens if the state has some sort of proof that you gave permission for the search?

You will get the best possible defense if your lawyer bases your defense on what the case is actually about.

This is a little bit overblown, don't you think? Let me rephrase this, this is outright untrue. There is zero chance that a lawyer will get disbarred because their client lied to him. You think clients don't lie to lawyers all the time? right.

This gentleman puts himself at risk for perjury if he lies in court. The lawyer isn't going to get in trouble (unless the lawyer does something knowingly wrong).

I will also say that in most cases you should tell your lawyer the truth. But I can think of situations where you would want to lie to your lawyer.

For example, there are actions you might want your lawyer to take that he couldn't ethically take if he knew the truth. I wonder if O.J. Simpson told his lawyers the truth.

If the attorney is privy to the untruth and presents it as fact (after learning it is untrue), the attorney is suborning perjury.

It's the standard old ethical dilemna - what does a lawyer do if the client lied? Often, being really upfront about it hurts the lawyer, as the attorney/client privilege runs headlong into the lawyer's own instinct for self-preservation (e. g. don't suborn perjury). The generally accepted solution is for the lawyer to quit.

Sure Jespah, but you got that backwards.

Telling the truth to the attorney is what causes the ethical dilemma. If he lies to his attorney, then the attorney isn't privy and can't possibly suborn perjury. As long has he lies, the attorney can't be held responsible.

As you note, the attorney has a way to protect himself if he finds out the client is lying. And a lawyer's instinct for self-preservation is legendary.

Some lies are very unlikely to ever be discovered. These lies are less problematic.

Of course, lying about what a police officer said when your lie will certainly be challenged and where there may be a record is probably a very bad idea.

Uh, no.

The lie is a suborning of perjury if the lawyer knows that it is a lie and promulgates it (e. g. repeats it as a part of the defense).

I loved this book when I was in Law School and it covers this exact scenario -
http://www.amazon.com/Conscience-Lawyer-Clifford-Liberties-1899-1975/dp/0817304533

Jespah, I don't understand what you are saying. It seems like you are agreeing with me (although it is a rather pugnacious style of agreement).

If the lawyer knows it is a lie and promulgates it, he is not committing of suborning of perjury and is subject to the rather harsh penalties.

If the lawyer doesn't know it is a lie. Then will not be guilty of suborning of perjury.

Therefore it is better for the lawyer if the lawyer doesn't know that his client is lying. If you, as a defendant, feel it is better for you to lie then it is probably best not to tell your lawyer the truth.

How are we disagreeing?

This may well be the single worst piece of law advice I've ever read. Disbarred? Seriously? Just how does one go about getting a lawyer disbarred because his client lied to him? I guess I should first ask, are you in America? I guess in third world countries law works a bit differently.
Secondly, I'm always amazed at how righteous people are about other peoples morals when they are sitting at home in their climate controlled house typing on the internet. This dude doesn't want to sit time in county and he's looking for a way out. He asked a question. Do you really think your self-important opinion coupled with your character judgement is going to do him an ounce of good? It has simply made you another voice to ignore. But, you know what? It's your keyboard time, Rambo. Fire away.
Third, without knowing the full scope of the situation, its dangerous to offer ANY real advice outside of your own direct experience. You never know, it may turn out this cop is on probation for doing shady ****, in which case HELL YES YOU LIE! YOU LIE YOUR ASS OFF! But, we don't know the full situation, do we? So, we stick to what we know. Unless, you're a keyboard Rambo of such high moral caliber you can toss down judgment upon others like Zeus chucking down lightning bolts. I'm not in that category, so, you know, I'm just gonna roll with it and tell the dude to hire the best attorney he can afford and offer the question in the form of a hypothetical, "I've got a friend in this situation, what would tell him?" arrangement. The lawyer isn't an idiot. He'll know what you're getting at and HE'LL give you a real answer instead of a bunch of us sideliners. And one Keyboard Rambo.

Dude, hire the BEST attorney you can afford and straight ask him. These guys are paid to keep your ass out of jail and he's going to do what's best for you. Nobody likes bad press. Lawyers are bound by law to keep what you tell them secret, that's why you pay them so damn much. Best of luck dude.

By the way... if you are going to lie in court, you should not be posting about it in a public forum. If a prosecutor sees this thread and wants to prove that you made it, all she has to do is get a warrant. The administrators of Able2know will be forced to give up your IP address... and they can also seize your computer to look for traces of this thread there.

This is now a three year old thread... and any legal proceedings with this particular charge are long gone. But, I am just saying... whether lying about your crimes is a bad idea is up for debate. But writing about your plans to lie in a public forum is definitely a very bad idea.