7 Reasons You Should Hire a Criminal Defense Lawyer

If you have or will ever be arrested or charged with a crime, then you are probably aware that your future might be in danger. As you know that there are few who are on your side at this point and you are not sure who to trust but yourself. You might think it would be a good plan to not trust anyone and don’t spend extra money on getting someone to protect you in court. That would be a mistake, The only people that can properly protect you in court will be someone who is specialized in criminal defense cases and has a background in them. Therefore, the best course of action if you ever find yourself or are in such a situation is to hire a criminal defense lawyer. Here are some reasons why you should:

Legal Knowledge and experience

There are individuals that choose to appear in court on their own, without any legal training or experience, thinking they can go through the criminal court process. What they will actually do will be trying to figure out every step they should take next while the Prosecutors will always be one step ahead and take the advantage. Criminal defense lawyers are trained and have a better understanding of the law. Someone who has studied the law and has had his practice on criminal defense will be much more prepared and have a better structured system than you could have.

2. Controlling your situation

If you are facing formal charges, an attorney can help you keep your situation under control by maintaining your privacy and preparing for trial ahead of time. In some cases, prosecutors will have evidence that should be excluded from the case for various reasons. This evidence could have been obtained illegally or by hearsay. A lawyer will be able to have this evidence excluded or any other evidence that can hurt you in court. On the other hand, your lawyer will also work to have evidence to support your case.

3. Analyze Your Case

When looking at your case, the attorney will speak with you, review the prosecutor’s evidence, and investigate your situation in order to thoroughly analyze your case compared to the law. An experienced criminal defense lawyer will be able to give you an honest review of your situation, which will include your best and worse scenarios and help you to go through them.

4. Filling your case in time

The legal system is a very complicated one, and the only people that will know everything there is to know about it would be the same people that work in it. This is another reason you would need an attorney specialized in criminal defense as they also know when the deadlines need to be met and will also have a better understanding of these deadlines.

5. Minimizing your chances of conviction

6. Possible reduced sentencing

If the evidence against you is very strong, a criminal defense lawyer will be able to negotiate with the prosecution for a deal known as a “plea bargain”, which results in a some of your charges to be dropped or reduced to a lesser offense in exchange for a guilty plea. This would result in a far lesser sentence than you would have originally received. At the same time, should the court find you guilty, a lawyer may be able to negotiate an alternative sentencing or even participation in a rehabilitation program to minimize the charges faced.

7. Emotional support

Although the criminal defense lawyer is not a therapist, they can be extremely helpful on an emotional level and help you go through this horrible experience, as they know better than anyone how these cases proceed. They will make sure you are in the best state of mind possible in order for the case to go smoothly. They will explain the reality of the situation to help you have a better understanding of what could happen, but at the same time a knowledgeable attorney will make sure that in court you will be treated with respect and dignity.