Ernest Schaal wrote:

> I don't know about bleeding heart liberals and activists, but defense
attorneys don't want to keep all criminals from being jailed. They
simply
want to make sure that the alleged criminal's due process rights are
respected and that their paying clients get off with the least
punishment
possible.

And when the only sentence possible is jail or execution, keeping the
"client" from being jailed (or executed) is what the successful defense
attorney is doing, no matter what their intentions are.