Do I have to hire a lawyer if I am accused of a crime? What may happen if I do not?

Filed under: Criminal Defense — Tags: amount, arrest, attorney, case, civil, conviction, cost, court, Crime, criminal, defendant, defense, fee, felonies, Felony, file, Government, guilty, innocent, Lawyer, not, offense, prosecution, prosecutor, punishment, state, suit — markj @ 7:00 am

If you have been accused of a crime, you may like the idea of defending yourself rather than hiring an attorney, especially if you know you are innocent of the crime. If you simply tell the truth, justice will be served and you will go free, right?

In day-to-day life, if we are accused of something, we can generally explain our position and resolve the matter with no harm done. This may lead us to believe that it works the same way when it comes to being accused of a crime. If we simply explain the facts as we see them and that we are innocent of the crime, we like to believe that justice will be served and our name will be cleared. But it does not always work that way in an actual courtroom.

If you are accused of a crime, you are technically within your rights to represent yourself. Even if you cannot afford to hire an attorney and the state provides one for you, you still have the right to decline the services of the public defender and represent yourself. However, it is generally not advisable to represent yourself because the United State legal system can be a complicated process to navigate. And depending on the nature of the crime of which you are accused, it can carry a significant sentence including more than a year in jail or even penalty of death.

Here are a few areas where hiring a criminal defense attorney can be valuable.

Understanding of the crime. A good defense attorney will be familiar with the crime you are accused of and what it means. He will be able to walk you through what to expect from start to finish, including what sentences are generally attached to this crime in your state.

Knowing evidence and how it supports available defenses. Throughout each step of the legal process—being accused of a crime, having charges filed against you, dealing with pre-trial motions and procedures, going through the court proceedings, and awaiting the verdict and sentencing—a criminal defense attorney is focused on what defenses are available in your case. Many may believe that a good defense comes into play only during the courtroom proceedings themselves, but that is not the case. An attorney will work to identify evidence to support available defense throughout the process, starting with when you are accused of a crime. Even at this early phase there may be evidence that can prevent charges from ever being filed against you. Likewise, if charges are filed against you, evidence may exist that convinces the prosecution that taking the case to court is a losing proposition.

Negotiating a plea bargain. An attorney can review the case and evidence against you, and if in their opinion you are taking a significant risk of receiving a guilty verdict should the case go to trial, he can negotiate with the prosecution a lesser crime and sentence. Likewise, at times the prosecution may realize that proving their case will be a time-consuming and difficult process, so they may be open to accepting a guilty plea for a lesser crime.

If you chose not to hire an attorney to represent you in a criminal manner, you will have to be familiar with the above areas as well as much more.

If I want an attorney to evaluate my case, how can I find one?

If you complete the short form found at http://www.criminaldefensehome.com/eval_bar.php, the specifics about your case will be reviewed by a criminal defense attorney free of charge and with complete confidentiality. This review does not obligate you to anything further but will provide you with a basic understanding of some of the points noted above. Therefore, you should take advantage of this free offer and seek an initial consultation with an attorney today.

Criminal Defense

October 23, 2011

Do I have to hire a lawyer if I am accused of a crime? What may happen if I do not?

If I want an attorney to evaluate my case, how can I find one?

by Mark Johnston