Defenders at Law: Assessing the performance of legal defense on Drug Trafficking cases in Brazil

Few studies have assessed defense performance in criminal cases in the Latin American context. The current research investigated whether defense type affects the odds of conviction and incarceration length for drug trafficking cases in the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte. We used a Binary Logistic and a Linear regression model, controlling the results for defendants and case characteristics. From that, we found no difference in the performance of public defenders compared to private and assigned lawyers. Criminal history, firearms seized, and being the only defendant in the process increased incarceration length. Precision scale or plastic bags seizure increased the odds of conviction. Moreover, non-whites and less educated defendants had higher odds of conviction than their counterparts. We attributed these findings to the functioning of the criminal justice system as an assembly line, in which cases are mass treated. In the absence of reflection on the individualities of the processes, court actors end up making decisions based on stereotypes. In the absence of clear criteria in the Drug Law/2006 on who is a user and a dealer, certain social types – perceived as “bandidos” (Misse, Lua Nova 79:15–38, 2010), would be more likely to be labeled as dealers. In this context, the defense can do little to change the process course and its outcomes.