Between the preliminary hearing and the trial, the defendant will have their work cut out for them to prepare for the case. The prosecutor will be doing everything that they can to build their own case for when it goes to trial. Your defense attorney will also be hard at work to get ready for trial.
When defendants are charged with a crime, remaining at home while they await trial is not always a given. Defendants must be released pending trial, and in some cases, judges may order that they be held in custody while they are awaiting trial. The bail hearing is one of the most important moments in the early stages of the criminal justice process.
Defense attorneys often rely on expert witnesses in making their case to the jury. In actuality, these can be a broad category of people who can provide different types of assistance to the defense’s case. Given that the prosecutor must prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt, an expert witness could help cast doubt on the case being made against you. The type of expert witness that you may use depends on the case against you. Most of us think that an expert witness will take the stand to give their opinion on the evidence against you. As you will see below, that is typically the case, but not always so.
If you are facing criminal charges, caution is the best course to follow in all areas of your life. You never quite know what you say to others may come back to hurt your criminal defense. Even worse may be information that you put out into the public realm for everyone to see. Social media may give a prosecutor the ammunition that they need to convict you of the charges. Here are several ways that your posts could be used against you.
The rules about removing arrest records in Wisconsin can be complex. You have every interest in having a clean record. Arrests and convictions can show up on a background check, and they can harm your ability to move on with your life. If expungement or removal is an option for you, it is something that you should certainly pursue. First, you need to understand the state’s laws and how to get the information removed.
This is the second post in our series about possible defenses to Wisconsin criminal charges. Some of these may apply to you. If they do, you can rest assured that we will leave no stone unturned as we fight for your legal rights. With that in mind, here are some additional ways that you can dispute the criminal charges against you and either have the case thrown out of court or win acquittal from a judge or jury.
Criminal justice reform has a long way to go in Wisconsin. Along with being one of the most difficult states to get an expungement of your criminal record, the state has many other laws on the books that are very unfavorable to defendants. One is a law that automatically charges every 17-year-old who has been arrested as an adult, practically ensuring that they will begin their life with a criminal record that could be very hard to clear. While Wisconsin allows for expungement of criminal records when the defendant was under 25 when the crime was committed, this policy does not cover all crimes. This law seems more unfair and out of place in the current time. Therefore, efforts are underway to change this.
Don’t get caught up with a drug offense charge because of CBD. CBD is an increasingly common ingredient in both food products and cosmetics and is also smoked in various forms, whether vaporized concentrates or the actual flower of the hemp plant. CBD is derived from hemp, which under the Federal Hemp Act is legal across the United States. In a recent article in Healthgrades, CBD is noted as being particularly helpful for a wide variety of ailments and is used in products ranging from gummies to creams. However you ingest your CBD products, they will eventually make it into your bloodstream, and depending upon their contents, could lead to you testing positive for THC on a drug test.
If you are wondering whether you need a lawyer for a traffic ticket, we would start by giving you the answer that it seems like most lawyers give to most any legal question: it depends. There are a number of factors that determine whether you need legal help for your traffic ticket. Of course, there are times when it does not make sense to go to the expense of hiring an attorney to fight the ticket. However, in other cases, you could only benefit from having legal help on your side.
While the police are here to enforce the laws, they are not above them. Their powers are not unlimited, and they can be held responsible if they break laws themselves. If you have experienced police misconduct, you have a number of options to hold both the officer and police department responsible. It could change the result of your criminal case or even give you the right to file a lawsuit yourself. For this reason, if you believe the police have violated your rights, you should discuss your situation with an experienced criminal defense lawyer as soon as you can.