Criminal Law

A criminal defense attorney can start working to protect your rights from the day you hire them. This includes not just making regular court appearances on your behalf, and conducting negotiations with the prosecution, but also working to preserve your constitutional rights while you are held in police custody. Most people see criminal defense attorneys in action during jury or bench trials, but the work on a criminal case begins months earlier. As soon as you retain an attorney to work on your case, they will begin building an effective defense strategy. In fact, many attorneys visit clients who are still in police custody to both inform that client of their rights and prevent any potentially harmful questioning conducted by the police. The preliminary court hearings in a criminal case can have an immense impact on a defendant’s pre-trial lifestyle and the progress of the case. The first hearing, known as an arraignment, typically determines important issues related to the defendant’s future. Legal matters that should be discussed will include setting the amount of bail in the case and any pre-trial release conditions the defendant must follow to remain out of physical custody. At MINK Law, our dedicated local criminal defense attorneys help protect your rights during every stage of the process, in and out of court.

A skilled attorney will be familiar with numerous potential defenses that can be raised on your behalf to refute and defend against the pending criminal charges. Your best defense will often depend on the type of offense being presented. Understanding the prosecution’s strategy as well as the circumstances surrounding the alleged incident will give your defense attorney a solid basis for crafting a strong counter argument and gathering opposing evidence.

For example, if there were errors during the prosecution’s investigation or there are concerns that law enforcement violated your rights or lacked probable cause to make the arrest, these legal issues could be brought to light and incorporated into your defense.

Furthermore, any evidence that law enforcement found while violating your rights would be inadmissible in court. For example, if the arresting officer did not have probable cause to search your vehicle and you did not give consent, any evidence they found during that search could be suppressed.

The attorneys at MINK understand what law enforcement can legally do during an investigation, traffic stop, and questioning. If we find that a violation of your rights led to your arrest, we can work to get the related evidence suppressed and the arrest thrown out of court.