Criminal trials are involving either local, state or federal government that is constructing a case against a person, who managed to break the law. In most of the instances such a case does involve hefty fines and/or incarceration. Needless to say, though, in order to sentence the defendant, the prosecution will need to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that the defendant is actually guilty. Criminal cases are largely different from the civil ones – in civil cases two individuals are involved and it is often referred to as suing someone.
With that said, the when a trial is going to take place, the prosecutor is going to make its best in order to deliver a guilty verdict, whereas a criminal defense attorney is going to make his or her best in order to make sure that the defendant will get the minimized sentence or will get the case dismissed to begin with. And in order to do just that, the attorney is going to employ a number of defense methods and techniques that will surely help him or her build up a solid as well as genuinely effective legal defense strategy.
First of all, even before the trial takes place, the legal representative is going to employ a few of the most basic techniques, which include reviewing the details of the arrest itself, reviewing all of the paperwork that was filed by the law enforcement officers and reviewing all of the available evidence before the trial even begins.
Checking out all of the details behind the arrest may be extremely lucrative in most of the instances. For example, if the defendant had to submit himself to the breathalyzer test, the officer performing the test should have had the proper license in order to administer it to begin with. And in case that this officer did not have the license to administer the case, the evidence and the test results may well be deemed as invalid. Even if it is not going to dismiss the case right away, it will surely help in minimizing the sentence.
Furthermore, the legal representative also has the right to review any and all available evidence that the prosecution may have. For instance, if the arresting officer did not inform the defendant about his or Miranda Rights during the arrest, any of the defendant’s words, be it even his or her full confession, will probably be inadmissible in court. For example, the defendant may have confessed to robbing a store, but if the arresting officer did not read the Miranda Rights to him or her, such a confession will have no power in court to begin with.
The legal defense strategies are, of course, completely different for every single case. However, depending on the circumstances, the attorney will be using one of the two major defense strategies to begin with – it could be either a negating defense or an affirmative one. While both of the legal strategies can be used in a variety of ways, the negating defense is general used in order to negate a crucial point in case that is presented by the prosecution and the affirmative defense does admit that the individual committed a crime, but at the same time offers facts that justify the crime to begin with.
With that said, a negating defense does imply that a crucial element of charges is missing. For instance, if a person is charged with larceny, the legal representative may state that the defendant did not really commit the crime, since he or she thought that the property was theirs from the beginning. If nothing else, such a strategy will cast a shadow of doubt over the prosecution’s charges.
Furthermore, in case that the defendant is facing first-degree murder charges, the prosecution has to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that the murder was actually premeditated. Otherwise, if the legal representative will negate that point, the charges will definitely be lessened to begin with.
As for the affirmative defense, The Los Angeles Criminal Defense Experts may introduce a number of facts that will point out to the fact that the defendant was not to blame. For instance, it could have been self-defense, the defendant may have been coerced or blackmailed, he or she may have been acting under intoxication or due to insanity.
One way or the other, there are plenty of ways to represent a person in court and, of course, you can try out numerous ones in order to figure out which is the ideal defense strategy namely for the case that you are running with. It does depend on plenty of different facts and circumstances around the case, so it is up to you as a legal representative to figure out which will work. If you need help with your case, please call our law firm or email us using online contact form.
