Imagine one day you make a stupid mistake. Something you did not think through, maybe something you did not think was a big deal.
Now, you are sitting with your hands behind your back, about to face a felony charge. This may be from a violent crime, theft, fraud, drug charge, or even a sexual act.
Felony charges are serious accusations and should be treated as such because they can be life-altering. You may not know what to do next, you may think you are out of options.
It can be a scary thing to think about, with 2.3 million people in jails across the United States. But, there is one thing that can help: hiring a criminal defense lawyer.
You might be wondering why is it so important? Is it worth the money? Here are just six of the many reasons to hire a professional like Jarret Maillet Criminal Lawyer.
1. Experience
A criminal defense attorney has seen cases similar to your felony charge probably hundreds of times. You are most likely walking into this situation with your first exposure to felony charge legal proceedings.
Would you rather take the guy who has seen something play out 100 times or the guy who is seeing it play out for the first time?
You need someone with experience that knows the ins and outs of these proceedings, knows what to look for in order to find cracks in a case against you, and knows what to ask in order to make your case stronger.
If you tried to go up against a prosecutor with the same level of experience as a criminal lawyer, you would probably be like a deer in the headlights.
2. Negotiation Skills
Part of being a lawyer is negotiating a deal for a client. This ties into experience, lawyers have been through these types of cases before and generally know what to expect.
With that in mind, there will come a time when a plea bargain will have to be negotiated, or if you are lucky, a deal that can take away jail time or even all charges.
Let’s say you were being charged with possession of a Schedule I or II drug. There is a big range for sentencing with possibilities ranging from anywhere between two to 30 years, depending on the amount of drugs found in your possession.
If you had a smaller amount and this was your first offense, you could probably get a better deal with an experienced Toronto criminal appeal lawyer by your side. If you were by yourself, a prosecutor might try to prey on your lack of legal experience and shoot for a 10-year sentence when, in reality, you should only be getting 2-3 years.
These are years of your life potentially at stake, so you want the best possible chance of getting a reduced sentence, or better yet, no sentence at all.
3. Jury Selection
One of the things a lawyer can do for you if you are facing a felony charge is to have a say in who gets to be on the jury. The prosecutor and the defendant’s lawyer both get to rule people out who they feel will not be a benefit to their case.
Having a criminal defense lawyer here will give you someone who knows exactly what to look for in a juror. These can be things like who may be more sympathetic to your case, who is going to outright be against you, and who may have the type of thinking that can benefit your case.
Keeping the right person on the jury might just save you from getting charged with a serious crime.
4. Trial Representation
Having a lawyer will help you gain more credibility in the courtroom for your case. Trial representation is the most important part of all of this, as this is where your case can really be decided.
This is the point where your lawyer can question witnesses, call out the prosecutors for a bogus point against you, gain evidence that can help your cause, and have a good idea of how to handle a courtroom.
The court phase can be very intimidating for someone who has never been through it before, and it is very easy to get overwhelmed. So, having someone with experience that knows exactly what to do in these cases will keep the moment from phasing them.
5. Legal Counsel
If this is your first felony charge, you have likely never been in a serious courtroom situation like this before. With a criminal lawyer, you get the benefit of having someone that has been there and done that who can tell you almost exactly how your case can play out.
This can be for the better or worse sometimes if your case is near hopeless. But, even so, you can still save the time and go straight to a plea bargain if that is discovered early enough.
Having someone to bounce ideas off of and getting a springboard for all possible scenarios can help keep you sane during the process.
It is almost like a writer asking someone else to read their work. You need someone who has been there before but can remain rational and unbiased to comment on possible flaws in it.
A criminal charge is similar where if you are going through it yourself, you may not be able to see the writing on the wall as clearly.
6. Coming Up With a Defense
Finally, a lawyer may be able to help you come up with a defense for your charge that you may not have thought of. For example, a lawyer might be able to figure out that the arresting officer gathered evidence against you unlawfully.
That can get the case thrown out. Or, a lawyer could come up with something like intoxication as a reason to throw out a charge that involves intent to do something.
Get Representation for Felony Charges
Do you find yourself facing felony charges? Are you convinced now that you need a lawyer?
Contact us today to get the professional representation you need.
