When it comes to the area of expertise of a criminal lawyer such as Law Offices of Brandon White, P.C. for example, most people tend to think of a popular jury full of people watching, just like in great movies. The reality, however, can be quite different. Criminal law involves a wide area related to several other specialties of law. That is why this professional needs to be prepared to understand the technical scope of his demand and the different phases and consequences involved throughout a criminal process. Among the most common activities of a criminal lawyer, the following stand out:
Custody Hearing
The custody hearing is the starting point of every criminal process that begins in a flagrante delicto situation. You’ve probably heard that “everyone is innocent until proven otherwise” or that there is no prison without a final conviction. These are, in fact, constitutional guarantees. But there are exceptions.
Arrest is one of these exceptional situations. If the public agent observes the person committing a crime, he arrests him in the act, even before an investigation or criminal process is instituted since the act was caught during its occurrence. Many times, unfortunately, arrests in flagrante do not comply with all legal requirements. Some of them are abuses, illegalities, and even deliberately created strategies to imprison a person unfairly.
The custody hearing is the right of this arrested person and must take place within 24 hours of arrest so that any irregularities are identified. From this hearing, the judge will determine whether you will remain under the guardianship of the State or will answer the process in freedom. Therefore, it is important to already count on the performance of a specialized lawyer at the time of this hearing.
Crimes Against The Person And Freedom
The performance of a criminal lawyer such as estate planning lawyer phoenix for example in crimes against a person and freedom is what people usually imagine when they think of these professionals. These are attitudes carried out directly against other individuals, attacking their physical integrity or their right to come and go fully.
Crimes against the person and freedom range from threats and bodily harm to homicide and kidnapping. Crimes against life are also part of this category, which are, depending on the classification, taken to the popular jury, which constitutes a whole world apart from the work of lawyers in the area.
Attempted and accomplished homicide, infanticide (crimes judged by the jury),
- abortion
- bodily injury
- domestic violence
- abandonment
- failure to help
- feud
- threat
- seizure
Crimes Against Honor
Crimes against honor are those that we associate with their three modalities: defamation, slander, and injury. They are crimes that show how communication is capable of causing enormous damage to people’s lives, having a criminal nature quite practiced in justice.
It is important to highlight that the criminal logic of crimes against honor differs from the civil logic. In the civil sphere, the need for reparation for those who attacked someone’s honor for this victim is discussed. In the criminal sphere, which individual penalty this person will suffer for having committed the crime in question is discussed.
Domestic Violence
An experienced criminal law firm also usually deals with cases of domestic violence, popularly associated with the Maria da Penha law. In these scenarios, violence occurs within the domestic environment, dealing with the intimate scope of power relations.
The defense service is, in this case, to avoid abuses during the process and the necessary support so that the damages are minimized, preventing an accusation from affecting the course of an entire life.