You can be prosecuted by the state attorney or a private one for a number of charges and to resolve these accusations the case will be taken to court. During this process, criminal defense is one of the crucial process, and it’s especially important to you – the defendant.

In today’s article, we’ll be taking a closer look at criminal defense to learn exactly what it is.

The Attorney

You’ve certainly already heard the term ‘you have the right to an attorney’. Your attorney (or even an entire team of attorneys in some cases) is your go-to person regarding your defense.

Criminal defense attorneys are usually specialized in defending defendants (the person charged with breaking the law). You can hire the attorney on your own, which is usually the preferable option as better lawyers usually have their own practices.

The other option is having the court appoint an attorney to you. Even though you have the right to an attorney, you also have the right to waive that right an represent yourself. This, although it isn’t rare in court, is something that isn’t exactly recommended unless you’re a lawyer yourself.

And what exactly is the attorney’s job – a good attorney will prepare a strategic argument to challenge the actual truthfulness and validity of the charges that were brought up against the defendant.

Given that the prosecution will be putting up its best fight to prove that the defendant is guilty, it’s crucial for the defendant to choose a good attorney. According to Scott C. Thomas (http://www.scottcthomaslaw.com), a lawyer specializing in Criminal Defense near Orange County, California – a criminal arrest, especially on felony charges, can turn a life upside down.

This is especially dangerous if your business depends on your reputation, as criminal charges will easily ruin your reputation, even if they’re proven to be false later on.

The Defense

Then, the attorney will come up with a defense plan. Obviously, the first step is to plead innocence – it’s the job of the prosecutors to prove that you’re guilty – it’s not the job of the defense attorney to prove that you’re innocent.

There are numerous strategies in the lawyer playbook which can constitute a good defense and possibly get you free from those charges. Firstly, we have the alibi.

If your lawyer can prove that you were somewhere else at the time of the event, no one can charge you for it. Alibies, however, aren’t always the default solution, as sometimes you’ll have one, but you’ll be unable to prove it.

For example, if you were home watching the television alone when the event occurred – no one can prove that alibi to be true.

There are also instances where the lawyer can appeal to the court for constitutionals violations. This means that the police officers and forensic experts didn’t do their job by the book, hence some of the evidence they produced are actually invalid in court.

Additionally, cases of self-defense, defense of property or defense of another person are very common and they usually stand well in court if they can be proven. If your attorney can successfully prove that your wellbeing and your life were under threat, they can justify many different actions.

Similar rules apply to defending another person and even defending your property, be it your home or something that isn’t real estate.

The Information

All the information shared between you and your attorney is completely private. Similar to how it works with doctors – your attorney isn’t allowed to share your private information unless you want them to. 

There are a few instances where the attorney can do that (if their life is in danger, if someone else’s life is in danger, if the defendant is planning on committing another crime, etc.), but aside from them, it’s unlikely that an attorney will spread information.

That being said – an attorney can defend a client even if they know that the client is guilty. Private attorneys can, of course, reject any client for literally any reason – but being guilty holds no weight when it comes to choosing clients.

The job of a defense attorney isn’t to prove that their defendant didn’t commit a crime – it’s to make the prosecutors prove it. The basis of our entire law system is that everyone’s innocent until they’ve been proven guilty, and the job of a defense attorney is to make the prosecutors prove the guilt (if it exists) of their client, not the other way around.