A large majority of criminal defendants will plead guilty before they ever reach a trial. Not every single defendant who pleads guilty actually committed the crime with which they are charged. There are many reasons why someone who is innocent feels compelled to take a plea deal.
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.
Many people are often unaware of what happens in the early stages of a criminal case. Instead, they are focused on the trial itself. However, the initial appearances may set the groundwork for a successful defense of the charges or make it clear to the prosecutor that they have their own risk in taking a case forward to the jury.
Any criminal defense attorney will advise their clients that it is never a good idea to speak to police without the presence of your lawyer. When you talk to the police on your own, bad things can and will happen. It is very rare that you can clear your name without getting yourself into further trouble.
An arraignment is your initial appearance in court for your criminal defense case. It is one of your constitutional rights to be presented with the charges against you. It is one of the defendant’s first chances to appear in front of the judge, even though your case will not be won at an arraignment. However, do not make the mistake of thinking that the arraignment is a formality.
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.
People who have been convicted of a crime could face consequences years into the future. So long as the crime remains on your record, others will be able to view it with a simple background check. When you are trying to find a job or a place to live, a background check could complicate things for you. Currently, Wisconsin is in the process of changing its laws to make expunging criminal records easier, in line with a national trend of criminal justice reform. However, the current laws are more restrictive. Nonetheless, it is possible to remove some convictions from your record.
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.
Although momentum seems to be on the side of criminal justice reform and allowing for broader abilities to expunge criminal records, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals did not exactly see it this way in a recent case. The court would not allow expungement of a defendant’s criminal record when he was discharged from probation. In order to be fully eligible for possible expungement, defendants need to complete their sentence in full, no matter the circumstances. To ensure your best chances of expunging your criminal record, make sure to hire a criminal defense attorney as soon as possible.
In any criminal case that involves physical evidence, you can expect some scrutiny from criminal defense attorneys of how law enforcement seized the evidence. One of a defendant’s basic rights in any trial is their Fourth Amendment right to be free from an illegal search or seizure. When police enter a home without a warrant, their entry will almost always be challenged. This is exactly what happened when police went into a home after smelling burning marijuana. However, in the case of In the Interest of B.W.R., the Wisconsin Court of Appeals gave officers very wide latitude for a warrantless search.