Our Law office can help with criminal law procedures. Here is short history criminal law:
what we call criminal law broadly refers to federal and state laws that make certain behavior illegal and punishable by imprisonment and/or fines. Our legal system consists largely of two different types of cases: civil and criminal. Civil cases are disputes between people regarding the legal duties and responsibilities they owe each other. Criminal cases, meanwhile, are charges pursued by prosecutors for violations of criminal statutes.
Criminal Law: History
In the United States, British common law ruled during colonial times. Common law is a process that establishes and updates rules that govern some nations. Once America became an independent nation, it adopted the U.S. Constitution as "the supreme law of the land." The U.S. continues to employ a common law system, which works in combination with state and federal statutes. As far as criminal laws are concerned, each state has its own penal code which defines what is or is not a crime, the severity of any offense and its punishment.
Felonies and Misdemeanors
Criminal cases are generally categorized as felonies or misdemeanors based on their nature and the maximum impossible punishment. Each state is free to draft new criminal laws, so long as they are deemed constitutional. Thus, what is a crime in one state may not necessarily be a crime in a neighboring state.
A felony involves serious misconduct that is punishable by death or by imprisonment for more than one year. Most state criminal laws subdivide felonies into different classes with varying degrees of punishment. Crimes that do not amount to felonies are typically called misdemeanors. A misdemeanor is misconduct for which the law prescribes punishment of no more than one year in prison. Lesser offenses, such as traffic and parking tickets, are often called infractions.
We are very familiar with local criminal procedures and laws. Our lawyers should be able to handle any misdemeanor or low-level crime.
Whether you were arrested for a crime against a person (like assault and battery or murder), a crime against property (like shoplifting, burglary, or arson), or any other criminal offense, our attorney can help. For serious charges, it will be a rare defendant who does not benefit from having a competent defense lawyer assist with the negotiation of a plea bargain, or to prepare a case for trial. A criminal lawyer should also be able to identify important pretrial issues, and to bring appropriate motions which might significantly improve a defendant's situation, or even result in the dismissal of charges.