Why did you defend a person whom you know is guilty?

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I asked a lawyer friend of mine years back ( he died 5 yrs. ago, bless his soul) What happened to truth and fairness? I asked him. How can you stomach the fact that you sent an innocent man to jail and let a criminal go back to the streets? Fairness, he said, is not finding out the truth but giving an opportunity for both parties to be represented in the court. That is what we call fairness. If the other party failed to defend his client, that's the lawyers fault. But the law has been fair. Equal opportunity to be represented. I am still not convinced up to now. I think this is a very stupid idea. What do you think?