There are more licensed attorneys to even count. So, which one should you choose when police and prosecutors file criminal charges against you? You’d be surprised to learn how many people make the mistake of asking their real estate lawyer or their personal injury lawyer to handle their criminal defense case.
If you are charged with violating a criminal law, your criminal defense attorney’s ability to analyze the facts and identify flaws in the prosecution’s case is key to protecting you from disastrous, life-changing consequences.
No one would hire a plumber to do electrical work. Likewise, you should never hire a lawyer who doesn’t specialize in criminal law and procedure to defend your freedom or your reputation. Great criminal defense lawyers use a combination of natural talent and an encyclopedic knowledge of the law to fight against the government officials who are determined to convict and even imprison the accused client.
How do criminal defense lawyers help the client?
Experienced criminal defense lawyers will examine the facts as reported in the charging documents. The police reports and witness statements are the records the prosecutor needs to rely on to win a conviction.
Finding weakness in the prosecution’s case
No person charged with a crime needs to prove their innocence.
The police and prosecutor have the burden of proof and must prove every single element of the alleged crime beyond a reasonable doubt.
A criminal defense attorney will look at the evidence with a mental magnifying glass. Every fact can play a determining role in whether the prosecution is missing vital evidence to prove the particular offense named in the criminal complaint. It is the criminal defense lawyer’s job to shine a bright light on evidence gaps to convince the court or prosecutor for a more favorable outcome for you.
Every prosecution case has some weakness. An experienced defense lawyer will find it and use it to your advantage.
Investigate the facts and searching for favorable evidence
Every allegation against you will be examined for truthfulness. Fact-checking every word is essential to building a case for AND against you.
For example, if a witness reported seeing something important, a criminal defense lawyer checks to see what lighting conditions were present, or if the witness was able to view and accurately describe the facts from where they were positioned. Visiting the scene of the alleged crime often reveals physical obstacles and longer distances than those reported in the witness statements.
Interviewing known witnesses and looking for other witnesses are some of the many steps your criminal defense lawyer will take to protect you from an unjust or inappropriate conviction.
Pretrial Advocacy and Motion Practice
Much of the criminal defense attorney’s most important work is done outside of court. When an opportunity is discovered to prevent the prosecutor from using evidence against you, a criminal defense lawyer may draft and file a motion to suppress the evidence. An active engagement with the prosecutor is also important to alert them to the weakness of their evidence.
It is of the utmost importance to humanize you as a client to the prosecutor, leading them to think of you as a person, and not just a “case.”
A great criminal defense lawyer will always stand with their client
Every person deserves the best criminal defense possible. Standing by every client and fighting for their interests all the way through the last step in the judicial process is what a great criminal defense lawyer must do, like the attorneys at the Law Office of Jason R. Carpenter do everyday.
