When you are facing serious criminal penalties that include spending time in prison, do not delay retaining a criminal defense lawyer to represent you. This attorney is qualified to possibly use legal arguments to remove any criminal charges against you that relates to the alleged crime.You shouldn't attempt to argue your case yourself. Criminal law is complicated, and you could further hurt your chances by giving information that you cannot legally explain. 

Your Ultimate Advisor

Your criminal defense attorney offers advice concerning whether you should plead guilty or accept an agreed-upon plea fight for your innocence. Experienced criminal attorneys know members of the court and will sometimes approach opposing lawyers to agree on deals that benefit both sides. Invariably, you'll also find out after hiring a defense attorney that the opposing side will back off trying to intimidate you when the case is being heard in court. Your attorney stands ready to aggressively pounce on opposing lawyers who attempt to badger you during questioning. 

Covering Your Back

The goal of your attorney is to acquire the best outcome so that you won't have to spend a lot of time in jail if you have to. As your lawyer, he or she also legally explores how to lessen the fines you may be facing. Your lawyer also investigates the possibility of reducing draconian laws that threaten your freedom once you return home even after you've served possible jail time.

Using Past Similar Case Verdicts For Leverage

As your legal representative, your lawyer will research cases that are similar to yours. Although each case is different, discovery of similarities in your charges help your attorney to arrive at the best legal outcome for your current charges. Assistants working with the attorney may be asked to also conduct searches into past defense verdicts that favored defendants in cases like yours.

Proving Your Innocence

Your attorney may decide, after reviewing other documents, that you were only partially involved in the charges you face. A plea from your lawyer can seek out the evidence that explains your alleged crime involvement, which may be enough to ultimately prove your innocence. The attorney can go even further by preventing law enforcement officers from engaging you in conversation thereafter when there is no need for them to do so.

Your Proverbial Legal Eagle

Always remember that when you've hired a high-flying and proverbial legal eagle, such as a defense attorney, this lawyer will seek and find out whether prosecutors have evidence that should be excluded from your trial for various reasons. Such evidence may very well have been obtained illegally or should be regarded as hearsay in your court hearing. Your lawyer has the right to motion that this evidence be excluded so that it cannot hurt you. So the job of your lawyer is to exclusively present evidence that only supports your case.

For more information, contact a criminal defense attorney.