Criminal Defense Litigation
Important Individual Rights
The Right to Remain Silent
No one can be forced to talk to the police. Once you are placed under arrest, and before the police begin asking you questions about the suspected crime, the police should advise you that you have the right to remain silent and the right to speak with a lawyer before deciding whether to speak with the police. If police questioning begins after an arrest and without an advisement and waiver (giving up) of rights, the answers given may ultimately be kept out of evidence at trial, even if the answers are important prosecution evidence. However, a failure to read ones rights does not mean the case will be dismissed, nor are the police required to read rights to someone they do not intend to question or who is not under arrest. Whether one is actually under arrest at the time of questioning is not always a simple issue to resolve.
The Right to a Trial
In order to convict at trial, the prosecutor has to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Trial may be to a judge or a jury. Most cases do not go to trial, but are resolved through negotiation and a compromise. However, some cases should and do go all the way through trial. Either way, from the beginning of the case the real question is: will the prosecutor have good enough evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The weaker the proof, the stronger your bargaining power to reach an acceptable settlement without the stress, risk, uncertainty, and expense of going to trial.
The Right to be Presumed Innocent
The prosecutor has the burden at trial to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The judge or jury must look at you and treat you as an innocent person. Only after all the evidence, statements of the lawyers, and instructions of law have been presented should the judge or jury decide whether the case was proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The presumption of innocence is to remain with you unless and until the case is proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The defense attorney must do everything possible throughout every state of the trial to make sure that the fact finder does not cast aside the presumption of innocence.
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