Saturday, November 19, 2016

Hiring A New Jersey Criminal Lawyer

By Edward Snyder


Law enforcement agencies normally carry out thorough investigations to determine the motive behind every crime as well as establish how the crime was committed. During the investigations, several people may get arrested and interviewed. Those found to have a link to the crime may be charged in court if there is sufficient evidence. If you are charged with a crime, it is crucial you hire a New Jersey criminal lawyer to represent you from the start.

It is the right of every suspect to have a defense attorney present during questioning. This is because investigators may ask inappropriate questions or threaten the suspect. If interrogation is done without an attorney present, the case can be thrown out for lack of evidence.

It is always recommended you have an attorney during the early stages of the case because the evidence the police have may be insufficient. In such cases, the case may be thrown out. Your attorney will only need to analyze the evidence and tell the prosecutor that they are harassing you because their case has no merit.

When you are arraigned in court, the attorney will represent you and ask for a bail hearing during the first court appearance. Obviously, the prosecutor will oppose bail, but your attorney will provide evidence to show that you are not a flight risk or a danger to society. These are the two most common reasons used to deny defendants bail.

It is important to note that the burden of proof usually lies with the prosecution. This means that if the evidence produced by the prosecution is not enough to get a conviction, the court will give the accused the benefit of the doubt. When you hire an experienced attorney, you can be assured of having your case thrown out of court for lack of enough evidence.

If indeed you committed the crime and the evidence against you is overwhelming, your attorney will most likely advice you to agree to a plea deal. The state or federal prosecutor will be more willing to offer a reduced sentence to save time and resources. After all, there is no need of committing time, manpower and financial resources to a case whose outcome can easily be predicted. In such a case, your attorney will negotiate a better deal with the prosecutor.

When the sitting judge rules on a case and issues a sentence, your attorney can appeal both the ruling and the sentence. If the appeal of the ruling fails, the attorney will file an appeal against the long sentence. If the judge overlooked some facts or failed to take other facts into consideration when making the ruling, the case can go to a higher court.

There are thousands of criminal lawyers in New Jersey. However, their individual reputation differ greatly. That is why it is important to carry out a great deal of background research before making a decision. After all, it is your life, freedom and reputation that is at stake. In that regard, you should hire experienced lawyers who have a great reputation and have won hundreds of similar cases in the past.




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