How a Criminal Defense Lawyer Builds Your Case
If you've been arrested for a crime, it's important to hire a criminal defense lawyer to defend you in court. There are a variety of crimes that this attorney will be able to help you with including burglary, drug crimes, DUIs, embezzlement, and violent offenses. In order to protect your rights, this legal representative will need to work to build a case. To do this, there will be multiple steps involved.
Initially, the arresting officers will perform an investigation in order to gather evidence to build their own case against you. During this stage, you are considered to be a suspect and they may bring you in for questioning. It is at this early stage of the game that you need to engage your criminal defense lawyer. You may not think it's serious enough to place a phone call if you haven't actually been arrested but this is incorrect. Before even speaking with the police, you need legal advice.
If there is probable cause, the law enforcement officials will be able to arrest you. They may have obtained a search warrant or an arrest warrant. This gives them permission to pick you up and take you to jail even if you're doing nothing wrong at that moment. In a day or two, you will have to go to court to make an initial appearance before a judge. You should definitely have your criminal defense lawyer with you at this point. Your attorney will try to get you released on your own recognizance. In some cases you'll be allowed to go home until your trial; at other times, you'll have to spend the time in jail unless you post bail.
Between the initial appearance and the actual trial, the criminal defense lawyer will build your case with a team of others including private detectives. This team will sift through paperwork, computer files, interview witnesses, and obtain testimony from expert witnesses in order to provide sufficient evidence that you are innocent. This may take a short time or lengthy span of time, depending on the situation. During the course of this process, there may be plea deals made to lessen the harshness of your sentence, if you are found guilty.
During the trial, your criminal defense lawyer will present your side of the story and defend you against the prosecution. As the trial progresses, various turns of event may require further investigation and case building. Your attorney will do everything in his or her power to build your case so that your rights are protected.
Initially, the arresting officers will perform an investigation in order to gather evidence to build their own case against you. During this stage, you are considered to be a suspect and they may bring you in for questioning. It is at this early stage of the game that you need to engage your criminal defense lawyer. You may not think it's serious enough to place a phone call if you haven't actually been arrested but this is incorrect. Before even speaking with the police, you need legal advice.
If there is probable cause, the law enforcement officials will be able to arrest you. They may have obtained a search warrant or an arrest warrant. This gives them permission to pick you up and take you to jail even if you're doing nothing wrong at that moment. In a day or two, you will have to go to court to make an initial appearance before a judge. You should definitely have your criminal defense lawyer with you at this point. Your attorney will try to get you released on your own recognizance. In some cases you'll be allowed to go home until your trial; at other times, you'll have to spend the time in jail unless you post bail.
Between the initial appearance and the actual trial, the criminal defense lawyer will build your case with a team of others including private detectives. This team will sift through paperwork, computer files, interview witnesses, and obtain testimony from expert witnesses in order to provide sufficient evidence that you are innocent. This may take a short time or lengthy span of time, depending on the situation. During the course of this process, there may be plea deals made to lessen the harshness of your sentence, if you are found guilty.
During the trial, your criminal defense lawyer will present your side of the story and defend you against the prosecution. As the trial progresses, various turns of event may require further investigation and case building. Your attorney will do everything in his or her power to build your case so that your rights are protected.
