If you have found yourself to be the defendant in a criminal case, it is vital that you are taking some time to locate the best possible criminal defense attorney to represent you. Even though that might cost some money, representing yourself might come with a much higher price that you can't afford. Take a moment to check out the following reasons why you should never try to represent yourself in a criminal case.
You Don't Fully Understand The Law
Attorneys not only attend a basic four-year university, but they go to law school after that. They are in school for so long because the law is a complicated beast. It is not something that you will be able to understand well enough to properly represent yourself in a criminal case. If you were to try it, there is a good chance that you could end up setting yourself up for failure. You might agree to something that you shouldn't or you might not understand that your rights are being violated. You simply cannot trust that the prosecutors will do right by you.
You Could End Up With A Harder Sentence
Even if you are innocent, you have to go into this with the understanding that a judge or jury may still find you guilty. If that were to happen, you want to know that your are not going to get too harsh of a punishment, and that is where your criminal defense attorney comes in. If you are representing yourself, it is unlikely that you will have the skills to properly haggle a better sentencing. You could end up locked up in jail, when a skilled attorney may have been about to get the judge to agree to a probation and the payment of some fines.
You May Not Be Taken Seriously
It may be hard for a judge and a jury to take you seriously when you are representing yourself. This is because they assume that you do not know the law enough to properly do the job. Even if you do happen to know a lot and have spent a lot of time determining the best way to show you innocence, you might not be properly heard by everyone.
These are just some of the reasons you will want to make sure that you are taking the time to find a skilled criminal defense attorney in your area. Contact a firm, like Maruca Law, for more help.
My daughter and her former husband went through some very tough years. They tried everything to make their marriage work, but it just wasn't going to work out. When she came to me for advice about what to do, I sent her on to a divorce attorney. I explained to her how important it is to have a legal professional working with you from the very start of a divorce. If you are preparing to file for a divorce, or are currently going through one, go to my site. There, you will learn several reasons why you should have an attorney representing you through the process.