Something pretty much everyone fears is a negative interaction with the police. No one wants to be charged with a crime. The penalties can be severe and ruin your life. However, just because you have been charged does not mean you are guilty. That determination is left up to a jury of your peers. If you can build a strong defense with your attorney, you can get acquitted. Below are five tips that can help you achieve that result in court.
Invoke Your Miranda Rights
After being arrested for a crime, you will be questioned by the police. Do not divulge any information other than declaring your innocence in a generic wide cloth manner. Invoke your Miranda rights to remain silent and request an attorney. You have the constitutional right to not incriminate yourself.
Hire a Competent Attorney
The first thing you should do after bail bonds are used to secure your release after your arrest is to hire a competent attorney. It shouldn’t be just any attorney. It should be a lawyer with actual experience defending clients accused of the same kind of crimes as you have been.
Be Honest with Your Lawyer
After you have hired a lawyer, tell him or her everything. While it is your right not to talk to the police, it is in your best interest to convey everything you know to your attorney so that a quality defense can be crafted for you in court or another preferable outcome can be obtained for you through negotiation with the prosecutor. Your lawyer should never be surprised by details you did not divulge.
Preserve Evidence
If you have any evidence that could prove you’re innocent or that the prosecutor’s accusations are not accurate, you need to try to preserve that evidence as quickly as possible. Hand it over to your lawyer. It may make the difference between being freed and serving jail time.
Obtain Witness Testimony
Similarly, if any other living person witnessed the events in question and can contradict the accusations of the police, you must act quickly to obtain those individuals’ testimony. Testimony from third party witnesses that side with your version of events can be damning for the prosecution. They can certainly lead to the jury bringing back an acquittal after deliberating.
Just because you have been accused of crime does not mean you are guilty. The state has to prove your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury. If you are provided with a good defense from an experienced lawyer, being acquitted of the charges is certainly a possibility.