What happens when a criminal just goes to an attorney and says, "Look, I did it. Here's exactly how I did it. Here's my fake story. Now get me out of here?"
If it's a privileged conversation, the attorney cannot share it with the court. But the attorney is not required to take your case. He can recuse himself for any number of reasons, including, "I just don't want this case." At the very least, you will still get a public defender from the court, but that attorney isn't *required* to help you, either -- you'd keep doing this dance until, eventually, you would get an attorney that would be willing to help you.
That being said, and although some will anyway, the attorney cannot LIE for you -- bend, stretch, fold and spindle the truth, but not lie.
Most good attorneys, when confronted with the truth, will try to steer their clients toward plea-bargaining or some other defense that doesn't rely on a complete fabrication.
Also, a lawyer cannot knowingly present testimony or evidence he or she knows to be false -- so, for example, once told, the lawyer couldn't put the client on the stand and ask whether the client committed the crime (assuming the client will testify that he did not). Ethically, an attorney should not allow a client to present false or misleading evidence. Thus, if you tell your attorney, "I did it, but Bob will give me an airtight alibi," then the attorney should not allow either you or Bob to testify. The attorney could still continue to represent you without arguing a theory that you did not do it and Bob's your alibi, basically by attacking the evidence and witnesses presented by the prosecution.
That's all based on the ethical rules, though, not reality. In real life, I know that some attorneys won't even ask "did you do it?" because they would rather not know.
It is the duty of a defense attorney to represent any and every defendant. Lawyers are advocates; justice is the responsibility of the judge and jury.
If defense lawyers only defend people they think are innocent, then they are substituting their own judgment for that of the judge and jury, and thus are subverting the system. (c)
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