subject: How Does a Criminal Defense Lawyer Get The Job Done [print this page]
Everybody has their day in the courtroom. This means that even if the client is guilty, the criminal defense lawyer must do whatever is required so that person won't be convicted of the criminal offense.
How Does that work? If you are a public defender, the client will be designated and you've got to meet up with them. Before this particular person is arraigned in court, you'll have time to discuss just what will be their plea which will after that be provided to the judge. Later on, ample time will be given so you could conduct an investigation, review police reports and examine evidence to prepare you for trial.
Throughout the trial, both sides will be able to provide witnesses. Some of these are experts and after the criminal prosecution questions this particular person at the stand, you'll have the chance to cross-examine them and vice versa.
Before the trial begins or even during, you could try to settle this matter out of court. You hold the right to accept or turn it down but you must first talk about this with your client.
When all the witnesses have talked plus the evidence has been offered, the only thing you have to work on now is the closing argument. You must sum up everything that has happened before the jury since the criminal prosecution will do exactly the same so the jury could now proceed to the jury room and make their particular conclusion.
Just how long the jury will be deliberating is anyone's guess. Sometimes a verdict is going to be announced in under an hour while others takes longer. When the jury has returned, you'll know if the jury has reached a guilty or not guilty verdict.
In the event that the verdict is guilty, then you can appeal the decision to the higher court. In the event that the verdict is not guilty, then your client could walk from the court room being a free man.
A similar thing happens when you're employed by or have got your criminal defense law company. The only real distinction is that customers go up to you. When they walk in, they will want to interview you initially to find out a little about you.
You have to be prepared to answer questions just like how long have you been a criminal defense attorney, the number of cases have you won, do you go to trial frequently or choose to work out this matter out of court and so forth. The way you answer can help them decide if they want to hire you or not.
Another difference between those that operate privately is you can charge a certain fee for your legal services. You may impose a flat fee or for an hourly basis. This depends upon you.
If you are handling a lot of cases right now, be honest with the client and tell them you can't since you will be unable to represent them to the fullest of your capability in that condition.
So how do you being a criminal defense attorney do your job? By working on the assumption that anyone who's arrested is innocent until confirmed guilty. This is hard specifically if you know your client did it but this is your duty being a public defender. Your inability to do so will mean this person will spend the rest of their time in prison.
How Does a Criminal Defense Lawyer Get The Job Done
