Criminal Defense Attorney in Columbus and Delaware Ohio
If you've been charged with a crime in Ohio, you likely could have been charged for the same crime under a few different statutes. The Ohio legislature has enacted a large number of different criminal offenses and you can be charged with these crimes anywhere in Ohio - because they are statewide offenses. Otherwise, just about every individual city and other municipality has enacted their own municipal code of criminal offenses. For municipal crimes you can only be charged under those criminal offenses when the alleged crime actually took place within the borders of that municipality. The difference is whether The State of Ohio is listed as the Plaintiff, or a municipality like The City of Columbus is listed as the Plaintiff. The attorneys at Harris and Engler practice criminal defense in the areas of Columbus, greater Franklin County, and Delaware.You Should Never Just Plead Guilty
Most people that are charged with a crime likely did something or other to bring about the charges in the first place. But many times people are charged with the wrong crime.Many times prosecutoes will charge people with the most serious crime available under the circumstances; or as many different crimes as are possible under the circumstances. Even if a person took some actions that caused them to be charged with a crime - they are still entitled to a charge comparable to the severity of what they did. Under the right circumstances, a criminal defense attorney at Harris and Engler can work to get your charges reduced (or removed altogether if possible).
Have Your Due Process Rights Been Violated?
It is important to hire a good criminal defense attorney if you've been charged with a crime in order to give you the best shot to ensure that you are treated fairly and given due process. If you cannot afford an attorney and you are charged with a crime then you have a constitutional right to have an attorney appointed to represent you.An attorney can demand all the evidence (including videotape) that the State or City has against you be turned over for inspection through a process called discovery. It is through the discovery process that a good criminal defense attorney can check to see if your Due Process rights have been violated. Sometimes you can be stopped by a police officer under what is called "Reasonable Suspicion." More often it takes more than "Reasonable Suspicion" to stop you and it takes what is called "Probable Cause." A good criminal defense attorney can analyze the evidence against you in order to determine whether there was valid probable cause to detain you in the first place. If there wasn't probable cause, then it may be possible to get the charges against you dismissed (and later expunged).
