Will The District Attorney Decline To Prosecute Your Case?
In some cases, an arrest at a traffic stop changes your life forever. You could be detained until your plea hearing, unable to produce the thousands of dollars in bail money that the state is requesting in exchange for your freedom. Then you plead guilty, because it means that you will spend only a few years in prison instead of decades. When you finish your sentence, you are determined never to break the law again, but life does not go back to the way it was before your arrest. You cannot vote in elections or own firearms. Every time you apply for a job, your criminal record shows up on the background check. Of course, this is only the worst-case scenario. The best-case scenario is even better than an acquittal or a plea deal that enables you to avoid incarceration. In some cases, it is possible to make your case go away as quickly as it appeared, but the chances of this happening are greater if you hire a Tampa criminal defense lawyer.
Some Arrests Are Much Ado About Nothing
Police have the right to arrest you on suspicion of a crime, but after that, it is up to prosecutors and, in some cases, grand juries, to decide which charges apply. States simply do not have enough resources to prosecute every case in which there is reason to believe that someone committed a crime. Therefore, they must pick and choose which cases to pursue. Of course, the most serious crimes, such as murder, rape, and drug trafficking take priority. Therefore, if you are being accused of a minor offense such as disorderly conduct or petty theft, there is a good chance that the case against you will go nowhere.
Even though there is a chance that the case will resolve without you receiving formal criminal charges, this is more likely to happen if you exercise your right to remain silent after an officer reads you the Miranda warnings and if you contact a criminal defense lawyer at the earliest opportunity. In an effort to appear tough on crime, prosecutors will pursue any case where they think they have enough evidence to convict the defendant. Criminal defense lawyers have professional experience showing that the evidence the state plans to use against you does not clearly point to your guilt. If you don’t, the court will assign a public defender to your case. Public defenders have the same credentials as lawyers in private practice, but at any given time, they are working on at least twice as many cases, so they don’t have as much time to make a compelling case for dropping your charges or declining to prosecute your case.
Contact Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney Bryant Scriven
A criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are facing criminal charges for a minor offense where there is little evidence that clearly indicates your guilt. Contact Scriven Law in Tampa, Florida to schedule a consultation.
