Why do lawyers defend condemned prisoners?
First of all, China's criminal procedure law stipulates that no one can be found guilty without a court trial. Therefore, before the final effective judgment of the court was made, the defendant was called a "criminal suspect", not a "criminal", that is, he was only suspected of committing a crime. Since it is suspected, it may or may not constitute a crime. It is wrong to directly say that some defendants in murder and robbery cases have been sentenced to death.
Second, before the court makes an effective judgment, whether the defendant committed a crime, whether he should be sentenced or not, and what kind of punishment he should be sentenced are all unknown, and they are all in the appraisal stage (otherwise, the court will not be needed, and the public security bureau will just sentence him directly). Since it is the appraisal stage, someone needs to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the defendant, and this person is a lawyer.
Third, lawyers, as defenders, have their own independent legal status, express legal opinions according to facts and laws, and realize substantive justice and procedural justice. Simpson case is a typical case to realize procedural justice. In this case, the host police lied to the court, and his testimony was not accepted according to the law, which led to Simpson's acquittal (even if everyone thought he did it).
Fourth, defendants who will eventually be sentenced to death also have legitimate rights and interests. Whether he will be sentenced to death is just a guess, not necessarily in the end. Even if there is basically no problem with this speculation (which is often dangerous), the defendant has legitimate rights and interests. For example, whether to extort a confession by torture, whether the victim is at fault, whether to surrender and make meritorious deeds, and so on.
In fact, many people think that those prisoners who are sentenced to death will eventually be identified as manslaughter. For example, the case of Nie Shubin in Hebei Province is still in doubt. If you make a mistake, there is still a chance to compensate. What if it's killed by mistake? People can't come back from the dead. An important way to prevent manslaughter is to pay attention to the opinions of defense lawyers.