(ThyBlackMan.com) If you face a criminal charge, you may wonder if you should hire a criminal defense lawyer. While hiring a good attorney is a financial consideration, you may need to hire a good lawyer to keep you from facing severe penalties including prison time, fines, and a permanent criminal record.
Below are some of the common scenarios where you should hire a criminal defense attorney.
Assault and Battery Charges
Assault and battery charges vary widely in outcomes and possible defenses. Some assault and battery cases are complicated, especially when several people or confusing testimony is involved.
If you have an assault and battery charge, you should have an attorney working with you from the start. Trying to defend yourself against such a severe charge is almost always a mistake.
Self-Defense
Self-defense is a common defense for an assault and battery charge. To prove self-defense, you must prove beyond a reasonable doubt the following:
- You were facing an imminent threat of harm when the alleged assault and battery occurred.
- You had a genuine perceived fear of harm.
- You did nothing to provoke the other person.
- You tried to retreat, or you had no chance to withdraw from harm.
Provocation
Provocation is rarely accepted as a defense strategy, but some state courts have ruled it can be a mitigating factor in matters of assault or battery charges where the sentence can be reduced or the crime lowered to a lesser charge.
Drug Charges
Many illegal drugs are outlawed at the state and federal levels. Prime examples of illicit drugs are methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine. If you are charged with cultivating, distributing, or trafficking these drugs, you could be in prison for many years. Even possession of a small amount of these drugs can lead to jail time.
Drug convictions have stiff penalties, but recent criminal justice reform lets the criminal defense attorney make a plea deal with the district attorney. If they give you a lesser charge, perhaps you will help them catch higher-level drug traffickers and dealers.
Your attorney will know the best ways to defend you against drug charges:
- Police did an unlawful search and seizure in your home or vehicle.
- The drugs belonged to another person.
- Evidence is missing from the seized drugs.
- You had to hold or carry drugs for another person.
Fraud or Financial Crimes Charges
These crimes are where you obtained property or money from someone else, and you used it to benefit yourself. The crime usually involves abuse of trust or deceit, making it different from regular robbery or theft.
Some common fraud and financial crimes are credit card fraud, wire fraud, forgery, and insurance fraud.
You should have an attorney working with you as soon as you are charged.
Homicide Charges
If one person takes another person’s life, it is called a homicide. But some homicides are not crimes. The most significant examples are self-defense or a state-sanctioned execution.
For the homicide to be criminal, the state prosecutor must show your willful intent or negligence. Your criminal defense attorney may try to use a self-defense strategy to beat the charges.
Theft Charges
Theft is taking another person’s property without their permission. However, there are many complicated aspects in these cases that necessitate the services of a defense attorney.
The prosecution has the burden of proof. They must show that you took the property without the owner’s permission, and you had the intent to take the property from the owner permanently.
The seriousness of the charges depends on the property stolen and its value. Your attorney will use the best defense possible to get you off:
- You had a right of ownership to the property.
- You were intoxicated when the crime happened.
- You returned the stolen property.
- Another party lured you into committing the crime.
Staff Writer; Mark James
