Three Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Try to Handle Your Criminal Charges on Your Own
When you’re facing a misdemeanor or felony charge, it’s extremely important for you to have a criminal defense attorney to handle your charges and lead you through the process. This is true whether you’re innocent or guilty. In this article, we’ll discuss three reasons why you want a criminal defense attorney on your side, regardless of the type of charge you’re facing.
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Criminal Charges Will Affect You for the Rest of Your Life
Depending on how your charges are resolved, the consequences of a guilty plea, a first-time offender’s program, or a trial disposition can be with you for the rest of your life. A criminal record can prevent you from getting jobs, can hurt your chances at good housing, can keep you from getting a mortgage depending on the situation, and can affect your ability to own guns, vote, or participate in a dozen other responsibilities and opportunities of citizenship. Criminal charges can affect immigration status, the way people view you, your car insurance, and more. It’s important to never underestimate the power of criminal charges and how they can affect your life.
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Our Attorneys Know the Law
It may seem obvious, but having someone who can help you by explaining the law to you is extremely important. It’s not just that we know about law, it’s also that we know to ask questions you may not know to ask. Our attorneys spend their time thinking about how to prove or disprove things. They’ve thought about cases similar to yours, different than yours, wilder than yours, or simpler than yours. It’s important to have someone who has had time to mentally work through situations similar to yours that can help you through your situation.
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You Want a Buffer Between You, the Cops, and the Judge
Finally, having a criminal defense attorney means having someone who can speak for you. This isn’t just about having someone who can “speak better” than you can. Rather, having an attorney who stands between you and the government means having someone who can give plausible explanations for things that you couldn’t offer. It means having someone who can refuse to answer questions without looking evasive, because attorneys can stand on constitutional rights or other explanations for why answering those questions shouldn’t be required. It means being able to say to a judge or a prosecutor truthfully, “I don’t know” in response to a question of where you were at a specific time without looking like you’re hiding something. A good attorney knows how to use all of the rules of evidence, the rules of criminal procedure, and the rules of the constitution to protect you from your charges.
Conclusion
Criminal charges are not a DIY project. There are plenty of things you can try to do yourself, and there are some things in life that are worth trying to find the cheapest option for. Handling criminal charges is not either of those things. When you’re faced with something as important as criminal charges that can affect the rest of your life, it’s vital that you have someone who is experienced and can help you. Call Cornerstone Law Firm and our attorneys can help you navigate your criminal charges.
