Facing Criminal Charges? What You Need To Know About Appointing A Criminal Defense Attorney Being charged with a crime can negatively impact the rest of your life, making it harder to secure employment, be considered for housing in certain areas, and more. It can destroy families and relationships, which is why you need to ensure you have a criminal defense attorney representing you, helping you secure a fast resolution that is fair and just.
These attorneys work for you to help reduce the charges against you, where possible and in some instances even have them dropped altogether. The important thing to remember is that you want to appoint your criminal defense attorney as soon as you can. Ideally hire them when you are first accused, so that they can help you through the process, ensuring you don't do or say anything that will hamper your case and make the charges against you even stronger. When you are arrested, the police will read you your Miranda rights. This gives you the right to legal representation and if you cannot afford one, one will be appointed for you. You can have a lawyer appointed at the government's expense, but you must be sure to ask the courts for this while providing details of your financial situation. The first chance you have to ask the courts to appoint a lawyer will be at your first court appearance, which is normally the bail hearing or arraignment. Your case may be delayed while they find a lawyer to represent you, or they may have someone available that can continue the arraignment on your behalf. If you don't qualify for a court-appointed criminal defense attorney, then you will need to consider hiring a private lawyer. This is a service you will pay for, but at the same time, you get a focused service. Your private attorney will carry out your case from start to finish, they will provide you with the essential legal representation that you need. Where you will find court-appointed lawyers have so many cases, that you may not have the same lawyer from one court appearance to the next. You may be asking if it's necessary to have a criminal defense attorney at your arraignment, which is when you plea to the charges against you. In the event you plea not