Denver Criminal Defense Lawyer | Criminal DUI Attorney Basics

For most people, unless you’ve come to study criminal law, your knowledge of criminal law will likely come from movies, books and TV shows covering the subject. However, when you or someone you know ends up being arrested for a crime, a number of aspects involved in criminal law come into focus that you may not otherwise know about. Once you get in touch with a Denver criminal lawyer after the arrest, he or she will likely orient you about the basics of criminal law.

This basic overview will briefly cover several aspects of criminal law, including criminal law procedure, the players involved, different statues and the likely outcomes of any criminal case. It’s a good idea to contact your Denver criminal attorney if you have any other questions.

Origins of Criminal Law

The kinds of conduct that gets the label of “crime” are ones that a government deems damaging to society as a whole or dangerous to citizens.

Most crimes are identified in statues enacted by federal, state and local governments. If one is found guilty of a crime, that person is punished through sanctions such as fines, imprisonment, or other measures such as community service, probation or rehabilitation. The punishment received depends on the crime committed and on different state or local sanctions.

A Colorado criminal lawyer will tell you that a criminal statue covers a lot of ground surrounding any one crime, including the type of conduct that is worthy of calling a crime, intent behind the act, as well as the best punishment for that circumstance.

A crime may be sanctioned federally or on a state or local level. For example, while a town may impose a curfew for minors, a state government will enforce any crimes against federal institutions, such as banks; this would make banking robbing, for instance, a federal crime.

Criminal Law System: A Brief Overview

The entire criminal process is covered in what is called the criminal law system: from the arrest, investigation, the trial, the conviction and sentencing. The system also includes the players who will play a role in the criminal law system, including both defense and prosecuting lawyers, bail bondsmen, judges, juries, corrections officers and witnesses.

Any person accused of a crime has several human rights which are enforced by the United States Constitution. Such rights, as your Denver criminal defense lawyer will tell you, include:

• "Innocent Until Proven Guilty." You may be suspected of a crime, but in the end, the prosecution must prove this beyond a reasonable doubt. You are therefore innocent until proven guilty.
• A right to have your own Colorado lawyer.
• A right to a jury trial of your peers.
• "Pleading the fifth" means you can invoke your right to not speak if accused of a crime so that you do not incriminate yourself; ex: in the case of being accused of a Colorado DUI.

Such rights strike a balance between the legislature’s interest in carrying out a fair trial that punishes the deserving people for their crimes, as well as ensuring that the people involved still have their individual freedoms intact.

Common Outcomes of a Criminal Case

Depending on the strength of the evidence used in court, the crime itself, and the correct usage of the criminal system procedure, and the strategy implemented by both the Denver criminal defense attorney and the prosecution, the outcome of any criminal case will derive from those factors.

The charges may be dismissed for whatever legal reason, which may lead the accused to get off scott-free and with no consequence, while a negative conviction will lead to conviction and sentencing.

A few of the possible outcomes of a criminal case:

• No arrest due to the criminal investigation
• Your DUI lawyer Denver may recommend entering into a plea bargain after your arrest, which means you agree to plea guilty in exchange for a less harsh punishment.
• Getting arrested and charged, then having your Denver DUI attorney getting the case dismissed due to a lack of evidence or any legal over-steps
• The arrested and charged person gets a trial and is found not guilty.
• The arrested and charged person gets a trial, is found guilty and is convicted and sentenced.

Covering the basics will ensure that you don’t go into the criminal system completely blind if you are ever arrested or charged with a crime. If you’re ever charged for a serious crime, such as a DUI, you’ll need to speak to a Denver DUI lawyer who specializes in the crime which you are accused.