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Criminal Defense Attorney
US law has two main categories these are civil law and criminal law.. Civil law pertains to all issues concerning personal relationships such as marriage and divorce and interpersonal situations for example cases involving personal injury and assault.
Criminal Law deals with the area of crime. It lays down guidelines for deciding who is the person responsible for a crime, who is the victim of the crimeth and finally what is the nature of the crime. In this broad category of criminal law fall two main types called criminal procedure and substantive.
Criminal procedure describes how trials are to proceed, how claims should be examined and sets out strict guidelines for the proper gathering of evidence. The purpose of criminal procedure is to sustain a systematic legal system that is effective in pursuing justice while adhering to the truth.
Criminal defense attorneys who specialize in criminal procedure take utmost care to ensure the proper collection of evidence. They will very carefully delineate their clients legal rights and privileges. A criminal defense attorney will uphold the principle of "innocent until proven guilty" throughout the entire case.
On the other hand substantive criminal law relates to crime and punishment. Within a criminal law perspective a criminal defense attorney will have as their clients people who have been accused of a crime. Once they have been engaged by their client, or in the situation of financial need appointed by the court, they will start to work on their assigned case.
On meeting with their client, a criminal defense attorney will listen to their version of events as seen from their own perspective. All communication between client and his or her criminal defense lawyer is held in the strictest confidence. This means that a criminal defense attorney will not divulge any admission of guilt on the client’s part but will work towards the successful outcome of the client's rights in the courtroom.
A trained criminal defense attorney realizes that the law leaves a great deal of room for interpretation. His or her job is to gather together all of the facts pertaining to the case from the client and from the state or federal investigators in order to present their client's case fairly and non-judgmentally.
In a situation where the client is guilty the criminal defense lawyer will endeavor to leave open some room for doubt regarding the client's guilt. As the criminal defense attorney knows, the jury has a duty to prove the alleged guilt of the accused and thus there is no need to prove his or her innocence. They will divide the possible witnesses into character witnesses and eyewitnesses
A criminal defense attorney realizes the importance of positive character witnesses for the accused, whose testimony will have a strong and lasting effect on the members of the jury. He or she will also make all possible attempts to ensure that any punishment in the case where their client is found guilty is set at an appropriate level to the crime committed.