Seeking justice for the victims or defending an accused presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt. These are two major challenges criminal lawyers will have to face at one point in their lives.

Lawyer Judy Clarke, who represents Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing, had chosen to take the latter.

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Clarke was more than a lawyer to 21-year-old Tsarnaev, who is facing a total of 30 charges in the Boston bombings - 17 of which are punishable by death.

During hearings, she would give Tsarnaev comforting gestures such as gentle pats on the back.  After all, she is his defense lawyer and he is the accused.

Despite a tough stance and the difficult task of proving the innocence of an accused, Clarke is known to have that gentle quality that helped her connect with her clients.

"During a time when the world was focused on my brother as a monster, she was able to see him as a human being and provide him with that kind of human contact and emotional support at a time when he had very little sympathy from anyone," said David Kaczynski, brother of "Ted" Kaczynski also known as the "Unabomber", whom Clarke saved from being punished by death.

"She really sees each human being as a human being and defines them not in terms of what they may have done or how sick they may be," Kaczynski added, whose brother was engaged in nationwide bombing campaign that led to the killing of three people and injuring more than 20 others.

Aside from Kaczynski and Tsarnaev, Clarke also defended suspects of other high-profile crimes such as Atlanta Olympics bomber Eric Rudolph and Arizona shooter Jared Lee Loughner, who killed 6 people including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. 

She was able to save all of them from death penalty - the same thing she hopes for Tsarnaev.

Clarke, a staunch opponent of death penalty, grew up in Asheville, North Carolina.  She said she knew she wanted to be a lawyer at a young age.  Defending the accused came out to be her passion.

"You're dealing with liberty," Clarke said. "It's the ultimate in legal issues to me, whether or not someone is free."

The 62-year-old Clark tends to humanize her clients, just exactly how she presented Susan Smith, a South Carolina woman accused of drowning her two boys, by letting her car slip into a lake with her kids buckled.

Clarke said Smith's actions were a reflection of her failed life and troubled childhood.

Clarke appealed for the jury's understanding of Smith, not their sympathy.

In Tsarnaev's case, prosecutors have moved forward with a federal death penalty trial.  Jury selection is underway.

So far, there has been no indication that prosecutors would be open to a plea bargain agreement, a move that can possibly save Tsarnaev's life. 

But the defense team led by Clarke had said, they will argue that Tsarnaev was influenced, at the most coerced by his brother to commit the bombings.  

His brother was killed in a shootout with police days later.  Should the jury accept the defense's argument, it could bring down the punishment at the very least.

Clarke, in speech at a law school in 2013 had said most people charged with capital crimes suffered severe trauma at least once in their lives.

"They're looking into the lens of life in prison in a box," she said. "Our job is to provide them with a reason to live."

TagsBoston Marathon bombing, judy clarke, defense lawyer