Lawyer may not concede client’s guilt if defendant objects, Supreme Court rules

[Swordsmyth]

A lawyer cannot tell a jury that his client is guilty without the defendant’s consent, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, no matter whether the evidence of guilt is overwhelming or that it would be a good legal strategy. Such a decision belongs to the accused alone, the court ruled in a 6-to-3 decision written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. “With individual liberty – and, in capital cases, life – at stake, it is the defendant’s prerogative, not counsel’s, to decide on the objective of his defense: to admit guilt in the hope of gaining mercy at the sentencing stage, or to maintain his innocence, leaving it to the state to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,” Ginsburg wrote.

More at: https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/lawyer-may-not-concede-clients-guilt-if-defendant-objects-supreme-court-rules/