Defense attorneys DEFEND. That's their job

It is the nature of our criminal justice system that attorneys for the defense are meant — indeed, are obligated by the canons of their profession — to defend in any legal fashion possible. Whether they think their client is a wrongfully accused saint or the worst scum ever to walk the earth, their job is to do whatever they can to combat the immense power of the state (the police and the DA's office) by scrambling for any reasonable doubt they can instill.

That's why no less a luminary than John Adams could make (though he feared it would break) his reputation defending the British soldiers accused of the Boston Massacre. The principle of presumption of innocence until the state has made its case, and the right of any accused to the best defense possible, are the foundation of our justice system.

That sometimes means mounting a vigorous defense for someone you know is an awful person, someone who is, in fact, guilty of the crime. But a lawyer can no more ethically fail to do their best in such a case than a doctor can ethically fail to do their best in saving the life of an awful person.

Which is why, as the article notes, attacks on former defenders for actually doing their job are not only wrong, but dangerous.