Most of us, during our life time, will never need to engage the services of a criminal lawyer, unless of course we are accused of a crime. However, for those who do end up needing the services of a defense lawyer, they can either privately retain their own or make use of a public defender. In the united States a criminal lawyer—or criminal defense lawyer—will deal with issues in connection to a person’s arrest, charges, investigations, trial, post-trial and appeals. If a person is arrested ‘on suspicion’ of having committed a crime, this does not necessarily constitute a conviction or proof of their guilt. Generally speaking there is an investigation into the ‘alleged charges’ and until or unless enough proof of their guilt can be obtained the charges can still be dropped. However, if enough proof or sufficient evidence of guilt is present the charges can be maintained as well as revised.
Trial by State
A criminal lawyer in Orange County, for example, might have a different set of laws to follow than a criminal defense lawyer in New York. State law plays a huge part in how alleged criminals are treated and in some states a crime is not seen in the same light as other states. A criminal lawyer will also entertain any issues around a constitutional violations on behalf of their client, as well as whether any amendments have been violated in the pursuit of evidence. Any evidence that can be deemed as illegally obtained is classified as inadmissible in a court of law as well as violations of the Fourth and Fifth Amendment.
In the Absence of Evidence
In the event that there are no Constitutional violations and no issues regarding the obtaining of evidence then the job of the criminal lawyer is to defend their client against the allegations in the best way possible. This can be with the refuting of evidence, expert witness testimony, counter-evidence to suggest the opposite to prosecutions’ story and anything else can place doubt in the minds of the twelve juror’s charged with submitting a verdict—in the event of a trial. It takes up to seven years to become a criminal defense lawyer and it included graduating from a reputable law school.
