What Does A Criminal Defense Attorney Do?
Are you looking at an accusation that may land you in prison? Some such accusations are:
- Capital Felony: These are mass murder, murder cases, rape, sexual abuse, terrorism, and more.
- Class A/B Felonies: These are sexual assault in the 1st degree, aggravated sexual assault in the 1st degree, among others such as manslaughter, assault, and many more.
- Class C Felonies: Selling or transporting assault weapons, manslaughter in the 2nd degree, burglary In the 2nd w/ firearm, possessing child pornography, contaminating public food and water supplies for terrorism.
This is not a complete list, by any means, but a list meant to give you an idea of what classifies as a crime that has a prison sentence attached—and in some cases, the sentence may be less or more dependent upon other variables, such as whether you take a deal or plea bargain.
But, if you’re looking at an accusation that may leave you with a prison sentence, you want to hire a good criminal defense lawyer. This is especially true, because while you can “be your own lawyer”, the legal system makes it hard to represent yourself and have things come out in your favor—hiring an attorney is practically a necessity if you want any kind of good outcome.
But what does a criminal defense attorney do that other lawyers don’t? Why can’t you just hire any lawyer you can find to represent you at a criminal trial? Because they aren’t trained! No case is exactly like the other—there’s so many variables to these types of cases, that you need someone who is trained to pick out what makes this case unique; they want to find subtle evidence and reasons for you to win your case.
In fact, a good criminal defense lawyer can spot arguments that could win your case—and knows how to use evidence that may be circumstantial to change the tide of your outcome. Even if you are guilty, a good attorney can help to lessen your sentence.
Some daily responsibilities that your criminal lawyer will do are:
- Contact their clients via email, phone calls, video calls, or meetings that are held in-person.
- Read all the case documents, evidence, read up on law statutes and any new laws that may be going to court.
- Read up on similar cases.
- Make notes about what may be helpful for the case they’re dealing with.
- Form a strategy for the case they’re dealing with.
While it seems boring, it’s essential that your lawyer does these activities to help them build a strong case for you. Often this process takes months, and it can take longer to prepare than you’ll be in court. Your lawyer wants to have zero surprises while working with you and that means they need to know everything that’s possible to know about you. A surprise could blow the game.
If you find yourself with a prison sentence hanging over your head, reach out to a criminal defense attorney and see if they can help you. The ones with The Morales Law Firm are great, but you should be able to find a criminal defense attorney that you feel safe working with.