If you are charged with a crime, you need a criminal defense attorney in your court to help you fight. If you cannot afford a lawyer, the court will appoint one. These individuals are called public defenders, and the government pays them. Note that public defenders often have a higher caseload, which means they may not be able to devote the time to your case that a private defense attorney could. However, whether you pay for your attorney or the court appoints one, your attorney works for you to help you receive the best possible outcome.
Investigate Your Case
The first thing that all criminal defense lawyers Yorktown Heights NY do when starting on your case is interview all parties involved. You, all witnesses (including expert witnesses), and police officers will be interviewed. The defense attorney will use the information gathered from these interviews to build a defense for your case.
Analyze Evidence
The prosecution has to share with your defense counsel any evidence that it has against you. Your attorney will carefully review that evidence and even get a specialist to analyze it if needed. Your attorney will be looking for legal theories and loopholes that can be used to argue against the prosecution’s case.
Remove Jurors
Criminal defense lawyers are actively involved in the jury selection process. This means that they can ask potential jurors questions and have the court remove certain jurors that may be biased against you.
Go to Trial
While many criminal defense lawyers will try to keep the case out of court, if all parties cannot reach a plea in your case, then your defense attorney will fight for you during the trial. Your attorney will have an opportunity to examine witnesses under oath and convince the jury that you are innocent of the crimes you were charged with.