When you are charged with theft, assault, DUI, robbery or any other criminal offense you need to have a criminal defense lawyer for you to have an easy time. While defense lawyers have been around for long, many people don’t know their responsibilities. To shed some light, here are some of the roles and responsibilities of a criminal defense professional:
Help you gather information for your criminal case
For you to win or increase your chances of winning a criminal case you need to have your facts right. One of the most important things that you need to have is evidence. Your lawyer will help you gather information that will help you win the case. For example, if you are charged with assault, the professional will help you get witnesses that were present during the event.
The professional will also help you gather information that gives the other party a bad light. For example, the lawyer can collect medical records that show that your accuser is a drug addict. Such information paints a bad picture about your accuser thus increasing the chances of you winning.
Present you in court
Once you have hired a criminal defense attorney you don’t have to attend a court session unless you are required to be physically present. This saves you time as you don’t have to leave your tasks to go to court. Once the lawyer has presented you in court, it’s his/her responsibility to update you on what transpired and the actions that you should take.
Advice you on what to say in court
Eventually you have to appear physically in court and you need to use the right words for you to win the case. The lawyer will advise you on the words that you should use and the ones to avoid. The professional will also give you tips on how to answer questions asked by lawyers, judges or prosecutors.
Protect your legal rights
The lawyer protects your right from being convicted wrongly. Studies have shown that there are many people who are wrongly convicted and serving terms that they shouldn’t. You shouldn’t be one of these people. A criminal lawyer protects you from serving a punishment that you shouldn’t. Even if you are guilty, the lawyer tries to get the lightest punishment for your actions.
These are some of the roles and responsibilities of a defense lawyer. To have a great presentation, hire a professional experienced in a specific area of criminal law. For example, if charged with assault, get a professional assault charges attorney.
Understanding Criminal Charges
Criminal charges are the legal allegations which are caused when someone did something wrong. It is also if someone has failed doing something which is punishable by law. Any police officer or even the victims may file a report which leads to criminal charges. But not all the reports hold up charges. If you are found with no charges then it is a wise step to get your charges removed.
For any case to begin if police has suspected any crime or if the person has committed any crime they can arrest the person. The crime could be either a serious or even a minor one. After the arrest the booking follows which includes collecting all the necessary information from the suspect.
Filing of Criminal Charges
Being arrested does not mean that charges are filed against you. For the first step the persecutor makes a detail of the reasons and overviews things. This is how the charges if any are to be filed are decided. If you are arrested and charges are filed against you it is always advised to contact an attorney who is well experienced and is working in criminal cases. Also if you have some information regarding the case or you are the victim of the crime then you can always file your case to police. Having the place of crime it is where the report must be filed. If the case is not pursued by the police officer you can always take it to the office of prosecutor. He then looks at the charges and decided whether to file a case or not.
How to Remove Criminal Charges?
If your charges are either removed or are dropped or dismissed you need to make sure if the arrest record is destroyed, deleted r expunged. It may be a different process in the place you live but your record must be accurate. The reason being many of the companies run a check for the criminals and if they find any incorrect records you may even have to lose your job.
It is always good to take the advice of your criminal law attorney and know if your records can be removed or not. Even with a conviction it is possible for getting your records expunged.