That is the POINT of the division of powers.
The police/prosecution ACCUSE.
The lawyers DEFEND.
The courts DECIDE.
A lawyer not making a decision on whether their client is guilty or not is the POINT.
And let's put that aside for a moment: a trial is so much more than deciding guilt. A lawyer has much more to do than defend their client against the accusation itself.
How was the suspect treated in custody? Is there a pressing need to put them in jail for the time being, or can they be released on bail? Was all the evidence gathered lawfully? Did the suspect confess because they didn't know they had the right to remain silent?*
And after that, if - IF! - the court finds them guilty, there's the question of the sentence. There can be extenuating circumstances, like juvenile defendants or, a defendant who is old and infirm and who may not survive prison because of their age or health. Regret or not, risk of repeat offence or not, all that stuff. In some jurisdictions, the law offers options for lesser crimes for perpetrators to make things right with the victim in order for the case to be dismissed.
All that is a lawyer's job, too.
If Jack, white, blond, blue-eyed rapes a classmate and gets two years suspended because he's such a promising athlete and such a good kid while Amir, arab, black curly hair and a heavy accent, gets ten years without parole for the same thing, that's unjust. That, too, is a lawyer's job; to ensure their client gets a FAIR trial.
In jury-based jurisdictions, lawyers can i.e. object to certain jurors and file to dismiss them. If you've got Amir on trial and one of the jurors is Adolf Jr. McNazison with a swastika tattoo on his face, a good lawyer can get that guy dismissed for prejudice, for instance.
In the American justice system, there is the option of plea bargains, that too is something a lawyer can do. A deal: the defendant makes the prosecution's job easier, saves them countless man-hours and thus money, by confessing and in return, the prosecutor knocks the case down from armed robbery and posession of a firearm by a convicted felon to just the robbery and recommends a lower sentence to the judge.
It's never just about guilty or innocent. Lawyer's aren't judges and lawyers aren't Sherlock Holmeses or Hercule Poirotses who take a look at their client, immediately deduce their guilt or innocence, and then rain divine genius level punishment down on the people who deserve it.
Lawyers are tools, crucial tools, to ensure that the rules are followed and that their client gets the best possible outcome.
And in all jurisdictions that I know of, lawyers aren't permitted to lie on behalf of their client. If a lawyer knows their guy definitely did rape his classmate - maybe he was caught in the act, maybe he told them so - they aren't allowed to walk up to the bench and say, your honour, my guy didn't do it. Kill the Saul Goodman in your head, kids. But that doesn't mean they can't ensure he gets a fair and unbiased jury, that his rights are upheld, etc.
If the cops snitched on his phone without a warrant and overheard him saying "oh yeah dude I totally fucked her against her will" to his bestie, that is inadmissible evidence, because it was procured unlawfully. If they beat him until he confessed where he hid the body, even if he did do it, he did rape her, he did kill her and buried her in his garden, that confession is still inadmissable.
And that's not just for the defendant's sake, that's for all our sakes. Because today it's him, but next week it's gonna be you. Doesn't matter what you did, doesn't matter IF you did it - if the cops can beat a rapist until he confesses, they can beat YOU until you confess. And you will, whether you did it or not, just so they stop beating you.
And that's why we have lawyers. Why everyone, no matter what they did, gets a lawyer whose job it is to reach the best possible outcome for their clients.
(* until a few years ago, "they interrogated him without reading him his rights" was a pretty surefire way to get a case dismissed. Then the US Supreme Court decided, fuck the constitution, what do we care lol, and overturned that.)
So take one piece of advice: if a cop asks you something, you shut the fuck up. That confession WILL be used in court, no matter if it's true, if you got your rights read to you, whatever. If a cop talks to you, you remember this sentence: "I invoke my right to remain silent under the Fifth Amendment and my right to a lawyer." And you repeat that every time they try to talk to you, until you get your lawyer, and then you listen to the lawyer (and he will almost certainly also tell you not to talk to the police).
It's shut the fuck up friday, all day every day.
And if you need one of the United States's foremost criminal lawyers to convince you, here's Professor James Duane of the Fully Informed Jury Association (google it, if you could ever be summoned for jury duty) to tell you what happens if you say a single word to the cops.
Because that's how people who didn't do it get prosecuted AND CONVICTED as rapists and murderers for things they never did. And suddenly, YOU are the one who's accused of rape, because the police needed a suspect and you were in the area, and then it'll be YOU who the people on Tumblr want to go to jail forever without a lawyer.
(Usual disclaimer, I am not a lawyer, this is not legal advice, I am not beginning a lawyer-client relationship with any of you hotheads by posting this, etc.)
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