It is the government against one person and his lawyer.  This underdog role is appealing to us.  Perhaps the easiest pray in our court system are those without effective lawyers in criminal cases.  Some lawyers are good at collecting fees for themselves.  Others are good at saving their clients from the abuses of our criminal justice system.We are the latter. 

There is one great equalizer in our criminal justice system:  the right to a trial by jury, where a jury of 12 (or 6 for misdemeanor cases) must be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the Defendant is guilty in order for the Defendant to be convicted.  We believe that with a good trial lawyer, an innocent defendant is extremely likely to be found “Not Guilty” and even guilty ones have a good chance in many cases.  On the other hand, with a bad lawyer, even an innocent defendant is in trouble.  A lawyer’s skill and desire make a huge difference.  When selecting an attorney in a criminal case, ask them how many cases they have taken to trial.  The ones who go to trial are sincere about helping their clients and usually confident in their ability.

           We have handled several murder cases with excellent results.  These are high stakes cases, but there are other sorts of cases that are equally as serious in terms of the potential punishment to the defendant.  Our laws impose significant punishment ranges for any defendant who has been convicted of previous felony convictions, especially when the crime now alleged is one of a certain list of offenses.  The law imposes significant punishment ranges for those accused of sex offenses.  Sex offenders must also register as a sex offender for a period of 15 years or more, a requirement that is typically rather devastating to one’s reputation, personal relations and their career (especially where the charges are untrue).  Major drug crimes carry very gaudy sentences, potentially.  Additionally, when one is sentenced to a term of incarceration for one of several certain listed crimes, they must serve 85% of their sentence before being eligible for release.  Being incarcerated is a horrible fate.  You should make sure your lawyer is the right one to help you with any serious crime.

           More common than serious felony cases are misdemeanors and less serious felony cases.  In this regard, we have significant jury trial and other significant experience in DUI law, domestic violence law, drug crimes and many other sorts of criminal proceedings.  We also have extensive experience representing juveniles charged with crimes, including those classified as “youthful offender” cases, where, typically, the Defendant is 16 or older and they have allegedly committed a serious felony crime, and the prosecution wants to punish them in the adult system.