[madaxe]

Yes. I know a few dozen criminal barristers in the UK.

They measure their success purely in terms of won cases, unsurprisingly - if you go to certain bars around the temples in London, you will overhear conversations along the lines of "got this guy sent down for 20 years today, don't know if he did it, but who gives a shit, and I'll be a QC in 5 years! Crack open the champagne!". They're not even in it for the money, as the CPS pays abysmally. They'd rather defend, as that pays - and again, on that side of the table, they have absolutely no interest in the innocence or guilt of their client, just in avoiding a conviction.

It's purely mercenary, and their stance is that it's just business as usual and impartiality - but it's a business that can cost innocent people their lives, and let the guilty walk free.

I believe your prosecutors in the US are rather better paid, which sets the incentives for conviction roughly on a par with acquittal.