 What does the outcome of Zeckler's trial suggest about the modern legal system?
Lying is the time-honored tradition, with their entire legal system built around it." They have only the haziest idea what truth represents, and they've shrugged off the idea as impossible and useless." "By Interplanetary Rules, they have to give you a trial in Terran legal form—judge, jury, court procedure, all that folderol. Finally the judge glared down at Zeckler with all three eyes, and pounded the bench top with a wooden mallet until the roar of activity subsided. Four separate and distinct charges of jail-break and bribery—" The judge pounded the bench for order—"Espionage with the accursed scum of Altair II in preparation for interplanetary invasion."
 The better lawyer a defendant has, the more likely they are to clear their names.
 The legal system is set up to benefit those with more power and wealth.  For a defendant in the legal system, there is no desirable outcome.  The better lawyer a defendant has, the more likely they are to clear their names.  Sometimes it is more optimal to lie and make a guilty plea, than to tell the truth and be found guilty.