How Philadelphia Criminal Defense Attorney Can Help the Defendant

After a violent crime has been committed, a Philadelphia criminal defense attorney is needed to represent the accused. The accused is advised to wait for his attorney before making a statement. Police interrogators are entitled to use lies to convince the defendant to make a confession, which wouldn’t happen with an attorney present.

Attorney and client are entitled to discuss the case in private. Anything they say is protected from being used against the defendant in court. The defense lawyer is obligated to mount an effective defense regardless of actual innocence or guilt.

The legal system is set up in a way that is fair to someone arrested for a violent crime. There is a homicide, which can be a first degree (premeditated) or second degree, which is a lesser crime. The difference between being found guilty of murder in the first degree and second degree can, in some states, mean the difference between life in prison or a death sentence. Not all states have a death penalty in effect at this time.

It is the defense lawyer’s obligation to navigate the legal system in a way that provides the best possible outcome for his or her client. Sometimes a jury trial can be avoided by arranging a plea bargain. This will not keep the accused out of prison, but, it may decrease the number of years she or he spends there.

In the past, drunk driving was viewed in a less negative light. Now, hitting and killing a pedestrian or someone in another car is called homicide by use of a motor vehicle. An inebriated driver who leaves the scene of the crime has hit and run added to the homicide charge. Sometimes the driver is too drunk to remember killing the other party. This does not absolve him of the blame.

A prosecuting attorney is the District Attorney in the locale where the crime was committed; he or she tries to prove the accused (defendant) guilty. The defense attorney at brianzeiger.com is usually on the opposing side, and his task is to use his skills to prove the defendant is not guilty.

Often a plea bargain may be entered into. This is done to avoid the expense and trauma of a trial. The defense attorney apprises the defendant whether or not the plea bargain offered is to his benefit to accept.

Manslaughter is a lesser charge than murder. The victim does lose his or her life. However, the aggressor had no criminal intent in causing that loss of life. There must, of course, be a legal consequence for the loss of life. Manslaughter is defined by the fact that the accused did not deliberately set out to cause death and a shorter time in prison are imposed.

When an innocent person is accused of a crime, he or she will not always have an alibi. Then the defense attorney has to determine where he was at the time the crime was committed. Hopefully, someone saw him in another place, at the time the crime was committed. That would, of course, prove innocence.

The Philadelphia criminal defense attorney is obligated to defend his client to the best of his ability. This is true even when the defendant is guilty. It is then mandatory for the defense lawyer to provide the best possible outcome.