The 5 things your criminal defense Lawyer should be doing for your Criminal case

If you have been charged with a crime and you hired a Chicago criminal defense attorney than you may be wondering what exactly that attorney will be doing for you. Every criminal defense attorney has their own specific practices and ways of handling a case, however there are 5 universal things that every criminal defense attorney should be doing for your criminal charge.

Investigating the Charges against you

If you have already hired a criminal defense attorney than you have likely already been charged with a crime as well. One of the most important thing that a criminal defense attorney can do is investigate all the charges against you. When a prosecutor charges you with a crime or a police officer arrests you for a crime, they usually charge you in multiple ways. The way in which a prosecutor will charge you is called a complaint. The best criminal defense attorneys will take a look at the charging documents and find any mistakes or flaws in the documents. They will also investigate and refresh their recollection of the laws that the prosecutor is charging you with. Every time a client retains me for a criminal matter, I re-read the statute and the relevant law that he or she is being charged with. Even if I have read a statute 1,000 times, I will still go over the statue while looking at the charges against my clients

Analyze the evidence against you

The Prosecutor is required by law to provide your criminal defense attorney with all the evidence against you. Even if the evidence is not good for the prosecutor, they must provide your attorney with a copy of the evidence. The best criminal defense attorneys will analyze all the evidence, including video, and determine what is the likelihood that the prosecutor can prove you guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. An analysis of the evidence against you will often be done in conjunction with analyzing the laws that you are charged violating. For example, if you are facing a gun charge in Chicago, your criminal defense attorney will look at who was in the car with you, where the gun was located, whether anyone made any statements, whether there any fingerprints on the gun, or if the car was registered to you. To properly analyze the evidence against you, a criminal defense attorney must look at all the reports and videos and the relevant laws.

Defend your rights

Your criminal defense attorney should know exactly what your constitutional rights are and if they have been violated. Some of the rights we all have are; the right to remain silent, or the rights to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. Your Illinois criminal defense attorney should be able to investigate the charges and analyze the evidence to determine if your rights have been violated. If your attorney believes that your rights have been violated, then he should file a motion to get the evidence and the case thrown out.

Negotiate a just resolution

After your attorney reviews all the evidence and the charging documents; the next thing that they should be doing is to negotiate a resolution. The most important thing an attorney can do for you is to give you as many options as possible. Sometimes the evidence may be stacked against you, but it is important to remember that prosecutors usually have a large case load. Most prosecutors prefer to settle cases because a trial can take up a large amount of their time and resources. Your criminal defense lawyer should be talking to the prosecutor to see if they will reduce the charges or amend the charges. Sometimes prosecutors will agree to give a second chance probation or deferred prosecution where the charges will get dismissed after a probationary period. No matter what, before you go to trial, you want to have as many options as possible.

Prepare for trial

The most important aspect in hiring a criminal defense attorney is feeling confident that they can adequately defend you at trial. A criminal defense lawyer should analyze your case and figure out if a bench or jury trial is better. Your attorney needs to prepare all witnesses and be very familiar with all the evidence. The most important part of most trials will usually be your criminal defense attorney’s ability to cross examine the prosecutor’s witnesses. A good cross examination requires both knowledge of the law and knowledge of the facts of your specific case. The best criminal defense attorneys will not back down from a trial and will fight to the end for you!

Make sure that your criminal defense attorney is willing to be prepared and fight for you!

[ThatRedhedd]

I like how concise this was - sounded like it covered just about everything, too!

When I listen to discussions of wrongful convictions, I'm often appalled at what the defense attorneys didn't do. Often, they fail to challenge the presumptions made by law enforcement throughout the investigation. They fail to put alibi witnesses on the stand. They fail to thoroughly exhaust opportunities to impeach opposing witnesses. They fail to put a spotlight on the eggregious unreliability of eyewitness & inmate testimony.

[tooge]

the very FIRST thing your criminal defense attorney SHOULD do is SUPPORT YOUR INNOCENCE, BELIEVE IN YOU,

[jerometruitt]

My attorney didn't do any of this. 6 months and I heard from him maybe twice. Both times were to get me to plead guilty with no explanation.

[mariegrayson]

My Attorney took my money and refuses to talk to be by phone, or Office visit. $5000

[antonigiron]

My defense attorney did all of this but unfortunately the new DA was more strict than the others and didn’t want to give me a better offer so he said that we should take it to trial. It’s a self defense case, ADW. I did 7 months in county jail but ended bailing out. No priors. We haven’t been able to get the victim to court and got him subpoenaed as well. My attorney seems confident and thinks we should definitely take it to trial. Hoping for the best!

[lnkinc]

Thank you for such a great video I did have a question after conviction is an inmate entitled their case File from their defense attorney and if so how long do they have to get their file given to them and is there any law against a defense attorney refusing to give the inmate his file

[starseoltd.]

Thank you for confirming what I suspected. What if you suspect that your defense attorney manufactured witness statements and maybe never talked to the witnesses? My defense attorney reports that they did not audio tape witness statements and when the two witnesses reported they would cooperate with the courts I challenge him with a proper list of questions to ask the witnesses. He now reports that the witnesses are no longer available. He has the addresses of both witnesses and phone numbers. I believe he is lying. Also I am dealing with other issues of withholding knowledge and picture evidence. How do I confirm these elements?

[Whyme]

That’s good info, however there are very few lawyers that actually do their job. If a civilian knows about the law then they will totally refuse to work on your behalf.

[magicworld]

I have a question.... My sister's defense attorney wants to send an investigator to talk, to the plaintiff. I have never heard of a lawyer doing that. Is that normal ? She gotta go to court in a few weeks. So, I would like an answer ASAP. Thank You.

[maricelanunez]

I lake your explanation I'm new on criminal sistem how can a get advance from you since in no convinced on how my son case lux whit his lowyer.

[targetedbythepsychworld]

My public defender is hell-bent on being against me & uncompassionate.

[carolkelleysparkle]

Does tennessee defense get less evident until pretrial ?

[nofacenokase]

Question. Can a lawyer stipulate to facts not readily proved? Like of someone charged with accessory before the fact to murder, goes to trial by himself without the murder being proved and without the principal also present at trial because the principal was unable to be tried at the time because he was being evaluated to see if he was incompetent to stand trial so there was no conviction of the actual murder at the time the other guy went to trial for the accessory before the fact to murder charge. Was lawyer highly ineffective for stipulating to murder just so the State was now able to go forward with the trial against the one charged with the accessory before the fact to murder charge? This is a question no one seems to have the answer to. Thank you!

[epmetriusharris]

What if they’re was no investigation. And no one did anything.

[tooge]

if convicted while being INNOCENT, it will be ME going to jail, not my attorney