How Does a Criminal Defense Lawyer Help?
How Does a Criminal Defense Lawyer Help?
If you are facing criminal charges, you might wonder if you need to hire a defense attorney. While you know most people seek legal help, you might not know exactly how a criminal defense lawyer will help with your case. The short answer is that a criminal defense attorney will assist you in many valuable ways that protect your rights and your future.
Assisting with the Police
When the police inform you that you have the right to remain silent and the right to have an attorney, you should take this seriously. When police officers want to question you while you are in custody, it is far too easy to say the wrong thing - even if you know you are innocent. Instead of answering police questions, reach out to a criminal defense lawyer who can represent you in all communications with law enforcement.
Identifying Constitutional Violations
Often, while making an arrest or investigating a crime, law enforcement officers will violate the constitutional rights of a defendant. This can include illegal traffic stops, illegal searches, illegal arrests, and failing to advise you of your Miranda rights. When officers violate your rights, your attorney can often use it to the advantage of your case. For example, they can seek to have any evidence stemming from the violation suppressed from your case. If key evidence is suppressed, your charges might be dropped altogether.
Determining Other Legal Defenses
Different legal defenses apply to different situations, and your lawyer will look for all possible ways to defend against your charges. These might include:
- An alibi
- Misidentification by witnesses or victims
- Self-defense or defense of others (including Stand Your Ground)
- Lack of intent (for some offenses)
You want to identify all possible defenses that apply to your case, and your lawyer will know how to back up your defenses with admissible evidence.
Plea Bargaining
Prosecutors are not known to favorably negotiate with defendants who do not have representation. Instead, prosecutors want to negotiate with criminal defense attorneys. When you have a lawyer representing you at settlement conferences in court, the prosecutor will likely engage in plea bargaining with them. Through this process, the prosecutor might offer to reduce your sentence, reduce your charges, or drop certain charges if you decide to plead guilty. This presents you with a more favorable option if you do not want to fight your charges at trial.
Providing Advice
In many cases, it can be difficult to decide whether to plead guilty to charges or fight them at trial. Your lawyer can advise you of all of the potential implications of each choice. In the end, it is your decision, and you want to make an educated one.
If you decide to go to trial, your criminal defense attorney will represent you and present your case in front of the judge or jury.
Learn More from a Montgomery Criminal Defense Attorney
If you want to know more about criminal defense services and how they can help your case, consult with the Law Office of Richard F. Matthews, Jr. right away.
Contact us to discuss your arrest and charges and how we can help.
The information you obtain at this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for advice regarding your individual situation. We invite you to contact us and welcome your calls, letters and electronic mail. Contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship. Please do not send any confidential information to us until such time as an attorney-client relationship has been established. These recoveries and testimonials are not an indication of future results. Every case is different, and regardless of what friends, family, or other individuals may say about what a case is worth, each case must be evaluated on its own facts and circumstances as they apply to the law. The valuation of a case depends on the facts, the injuries, the jurisdiction, the venue, the witnesses, the parties, and the testimony, among other factors. No representation is made that the quality of the legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.
The Law Office of Richard F. Matthews, Jr. serves Montgomery County, Pike County, Elmore County, Autauga County, the River Region of Alabama and throughout the State of Alabama, including Montgomery, Troy, Wetumpka Prattville, Selma and Tuskegee. No attorney-client relationship is established by requesting a consultation or emailing Attorney Richard F. Matthews, Jr.. Information submitted in such communication is not privileged and may be subject to disclosure.
