More likely, if you are reading this section, you are in real trouble. Whether you are a corporation or an individual charged with a crime, do not take a chance with a general practicing attorney. You need a lawyer who specializes in criminal defense. The actions you take in the initial stages of an investigation or arrest can have a significant impact on the outcome of your case. Our judicial system can be overwhelming and frightening. Jail sentences are getting significantly longer and more the people who are accused of crimes are going to jail more frequently. If you are facing a criminal charge, you are competing against experienced prosecutors, police, detectives, investigators, and a massive amount of other government resources. The odds against a defendant are never equal to the strength and financial ability of the state. If you are facing the possibility of being accused or convicted of a crime, you need to contact an experienced criminal defense lawyer as early in the process as possible. You need to be aware of your constitutional rights and protect yourself. You should contact a criminal defense lawyer even before the police start questioning or investigating their case. An experienced and skilled attorney can help protect you and your constitutional rights.

Due Process

Whether you are dealing in Federal Court or State Court, our criminal justice system is complex in both substance and procedure. Each state has its own rules of procedure that dictate the methods, behavior, and process of the courts, judges, lawyers, prosecutors and police. On occasion, these process change. There is no better reason to use an experienced and seasoned criminal defense lawyer to defend you.
Constitutionally, all people in the US are afforded “Due Process” of law. The Due Process clause guarantees us certain protections regarding the procedures the government will use to use to charge and prosecute a defendant. Among these rights are the right to reasonable notice of proceedings, a right to a fair and impartial jury, the right to a reasonable bail, the right to competent counsel and the right to confront the witnesses who testify against you.

Bail

After you have been arrested, the courts will usually set a Bail amount. Bail is a certain amount of money or adequate security to assure the court that you will return to face the charges alleged against you at trial. If you do not or cannot post bail, the chances are that you may stay in jail until the trial date, which sometimes can be years away from the date of the arrest. If you are eventually found to be innocent or resolve your case in a manner that requires no jai time or less jail time than you have already done, you will have lost that time. Some court do allow you to apply jail days to the court fines by asserting a pay-per-day approach such as you would be credited up to $75 per day against any fines or fees for the amount of time you were in jail.
Typically, if you do not post the bail, you can apply to the court for a bail reduction hearing, whereby you or your attorney ask the court to lower the bail amount. The court will consider several arguments from both the Prosecutor and the Defense counsel in setting the bail amount. Among those considerations are you r past criminal history, the nature if the crime alleged against you, your level of participation in the alleged crime, the length of the possible sentence or fines that may be levied against you, the weight of the evidence against you, the risk that you might flea or abscond from the jurisdiction, and other similar issues. Then, the courts balance those factors with arguments such as your lack of previous court involvement, your stability in the community, whether you own your home, if you have family in the jurisdiction, your level of contacts in the community, the length of time you have levied at your present address, the length of time you have been employed, if you possess any professional licenses and any other factor to suggest that you are a stable person and less likely to flea, and more likely to return to the court to face the allegations. More serious charges such as murder, aggravated robbery, and certain weapons cases are non-bondable. That means that you must wait in jail until your case has concluded.
Most court also allow you to post a bond in lieu of actual cash bail. To obtain a bond, you would normally contact a bail bond agent. The bail bond agent typically requires that you pay them between 5% and 10% of the required amount due to the court in return for the bail bondsman issuing a note (promise to pay) to the court for the entire amount needed for posting the bail. For example, if your bail is set at $10,000, the Bail Bond Agency would post the $10,000 for you in exchange for roughly $1,000 in cash, and some good credit or assurances that you will refund the entire amount to the bail bonds agency if you fail to appear. Money paid directly to the court is normally refunded to the person(s) who paid it after the case is resolved. Money paid to a bail Bondman is never refunded. Usually, they will require a co-signer with good credit or a person that owns real- property to assure them that you will return. If you do not appear in court when ordered to do so, the court will require that the Bail bond Agent pay the court the full amount that you defaulted on and revoke your bail. The bail bonds agency will then go after you and your co-signors to get the money back.
Bail is merely an insurance policy that guarantees the defendant’s return and appearance in court. If the defendant fails to appear in court, the court will declare that the bail is “forfeited” – This means the court will keep the cash or collects on the insurance bond. The judge will then issue a warrant for your arrest.
• Homicide – 1st degree murder, felony murder, capital murder, intentional homicide of an unborn child, 2nd degree murder, voluntary manslaughter of an unborn child, manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, drug induced homicide, reckless homicide, vehicular manslaughter and attempted murder.
•Sex Offenses – criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual assault, predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, criminal sexual abuse, aggravated criminal sexual abuse, rape, statutory rape, sexual exploitation of a child, failure to register as a sex offender, public indecency, prostitution, soliciting for a prostitute, soliciting for a juvenile prostitute, pandering, keeping a place of prostitution, keeping a place of juvenile prostitution, patronizing a prostitute, patronizing a juvenile prostitute, pimping, juvenile pimping, obscenity, and child pornography.
• Drunk Driving (DUI / DWI) Traffic Violations – driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs (DUI), driving under the influence of intoxicating substance (DWI), petitions to rescind statutory summary suspensions (suspensions resulting from DUI / DWI arrests), driving while driver’s license is suspended or revoked, fleeing or attempting to elude police officer, aggravated fleeing or attempt to elude a police officer, leaving the scene of a property or personal injury accident, drag racing, aggravated speeding (driving 40 miles per hour or more in excess of the speed limit), reckless driving, aggravated reckless driving, speeding, speeding in a school zone, speeding in a construction zone, failure to stop at a stop sign, failure to obey a traffic control device, open alcohol in automobile, passing a school bus while stop sign is out, and all other traffic violations.
• Drug Crimes – possession of a controlled substance such as cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, GHB, and all other scheduled substances, possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, delivery of a controlled substance, delivery of a controlled substance within 1000 feet of a school or church, possession of cannabis, possession of cannabis with the intent to deliver, delivery of cannabis, possession of drug paraphernalia, drug manufacturing, drug cultivation, drug trafficking, and drug conspiracy.
• Weapon Offenses – unlawful use of weapons (UUW), unlawful use or possession of weapons by felons or persons in the custody of the department of corrections, aggravated discharge of a firearm, reckless discharge of a firearm, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful sale of firearms, unlawful possession of firearms and firearm ammunition, unlawful purchase of a firearm, gunrunning, and defacing identification marks of firearms.
• Theft – theft, retail theft, deceptive practices, forgery, unlawful use of a credit card, financial identity theft, aggravated financial identity theft, possession of stolen property, financial exploitation of an elderly person or a person with a disability, robbery, armed robbery, burglary, residential burglary, possession of a stolen motor vehicle (PSMV), vehicular hijacking, aggravated vehicular hijacking, possession of burglary tools, and unlawful use of sound recordings.
• Other Felonies and Misdemeanors – assault, aggravated assault, battery, aggravated battery, aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated battery of a child, domestic battery, violation of an order of protection (VOOP), reckless conduct, disorderly conduct, kidnapping, aggravated kidnapping, unlawful restraint, aggravated unlawful restraint, child abduction, unlawful visitation interference, hate crime, stalking, aggravated stalking, home invasion, criminal trespass to property, criminal trespass to state supported land, criminal damage to property, criminal damage to government supported property, arson, aggravated arson, escape, and perjury.
• White Collar Crimes – bribery, fraud, extortion, identity theft, insider trading, stock fraud, market timing, counterfeiting, kickbacks, RICO crimes, racketeering, embezzlement, larceny, perjury, money laundering, wiretapping, and tax fraud.
• Criminal Appeals – post-conviction relief, appeals, and appellate law.
Every crime under the U.S. criminal code is assessed a base offense value, the more serious the offense, the higher the base value. Points are then added or subtracted depending on the circumstances such as the age of the victim, the amount of money involved, the type of weapon used, etc. A complicated grid pattern is then used to combine other variables such as previous criminal history, social and economic stability of the offender, and so on. A federal district judge must then impose a mandatory minimum and/or maximum sentence based on the final “point value” given to the case. To view the Federal Sentencing Table, click on http://www.ussc.gov/1998guid/Sentable.htm.

CRIMINAL DEFENSE CATAGORIES