Criminal Defense Lawyer
You have been told you will be charged with a crime, or you find yourself sitting in jail awaiting trial, or you are at home on bail staring at the criminal complaint that has been filed against you. Yes, you. That’s your name at the top of the page, and yes, someone wants to convict you and possibly send you to prison if they can. All you can think about is that your life is about to be turned upside down and spin out of control.
Maybe you did absolutely nothing wrong at all and you simply should not have been charged. Maybe what you did should be understandable, or maybe you view yourself as guilty, or maybe you know you are guilty of some but not all of what you are accused of doing.
All of the above situations occur every day, more than people like to think. Whichever situation best describes you does not matter right now. The conclusion is the same. You need to be defended. If you are not guilty, then you need to be defended so that you can do your best to show that a case cannot be made against you. If you are guilty, you still need to be defended so that nothing unfair happens to you and so that you can restart your life as soon as possible after this is over. If you feel you are somewhere in between, you need help sorting things out and deciding what to do next.
As soon as you feel that anyone is even thinking about charging you with a crime, shut up. Talk to no one about it, except your lawyer. “You have no friends here”, as they say. Anything you say not only may be used against you, but also may be twisted on purpose, taken out of context, or even lied about, in order to convict you, which is what the police want to do, with the single mindedness of an efficient, hungry, swimming shark. That doesn’t make them evil, that is just how they view their jobs. If you are invited to “tell your side of the story” so you can “put this behind you”, then laugh to yourself at their dishonesty and shut up except to ask for a lawyer. If police had more time to spend fairly and thoroughly investigating crimes before bringing charges, then this advice might not be necessary. But they don’t, and it is. They want you to talk for one reason: to get a statement they can use against you to make up for any weaknesses in their case.
Contact a lawyer immediately. If you have just been arrested, a lawyer can work to make the bail low enough for you to go home and then help more actively in your own defense. If you have a Preliminary Hearing scheduled at a District Justice Office, a lawyer can prepare for the hearing so that you can use the hearing to show that the police do not have a case. Do Not “Waive” your right to a Preliminary Hearing. If you have no lawyer, the police may try get you to waive the hearing (to not actually have it) supposedly in order to “get this over with”. More lies. They are trying to get you off their calendar to save time, and/or not risk having your case dismissed at the hearing. Hire a lawyer and have him decide with you whether you should waive your hearing.
If you are past the District Justice stage and have been arraigned in the Court of Common Pleas, or have an arraignment scheduled, contact a lawyer immediately. You already are behind the game and need to catch up fast. A lawyer can find out what evidence the prosecution intends to use at trial, file pre-trial motions to keep the prosecution from mentioning things at trial they have no right to mention, and a lawyer can defend you at trial.
Whether or not you are guilty is not my call to make. To whatever extent you believe you are guilty or innocent, you deserve a chance to have your case presented in a competent, forceful, respectful manner. Whether your life has been disrupted by self-sabotaging behavior or whether you haven’t done a damn thing wrong, you deserve help in the long road back to normalcy and self-respect. As I reached 60 years of age in 2019, I looked back at younger years during which I had yet to grow to maturity and during which I found myself on the receiving end of the criminal justice system. I know what clients experience and how alone one feels when being criminally prosecuted, deservedly so or not. I see no difference between myself and those in need of legal services. I respect them as I respect myself, and I say this with regarding each area of law in which I practice.
Looking for a Criminal Defense Attorney you can trust in York or Harrisburg, PA? Contact me today.