Innocent people do need an attorney
Too many times I have had criminal defendants come to me after a conviction. They ask if there is something I can do to help them now that the State has wrongly convicted them of a crime. Naturally I ask them why they didn’t come to me before the case was finished. The most frequent answer I get is that they were innocent of the charges. They believed that everything would work out okay because the court should not convict innocent people.
They believe government is good
The belief that the court will not convict innocent people stems from the idea that Government is benevolent. Since they are good you should trust them. The second reason is they have a misunderstanding of how the judicial system works.
Witness is not hearsay
These same clients also thought that if the only evidence the State had was the testimony of one witness, there was no way a jury could convict them. They heard somewhere that this evidence is ‘hearsay’ evidence, and could not support a criminal conviction.
First, testimony is only hearsay if that witness who said it does not come to court. Once the witness comes to court and tells the jury the same words, it is no longer hearsay. Second, the belief that one person’s words, without other evidence, cannot convict you is not how our judicial system works. Most of the cases that go through the criminal courts are precisely that. Cases based on one witnesses statements.
Doing nothing will hurt you
Since these defendants believe it is unlikely they will be convicted of the charges, they sit back and do nothing to improve their situation. They file no legal motions, and do no discovery or investigation. They just show up to the court in hopes that they can just tell the judge to dismiss this obviously frivolous case. Those same defendants end up being sorely disappointed when they get convicted of a criminal charge, and even sent to jail.
Call an attorney today
So if you are one of these people who believe that the Government is benevolent and would never wrongly convict someone, or think that one person’s allegations against you could never stand up in court, you need to speak to an attorney. Please call me today. Let’s set up a consultation so that we can talk about what you can do to save yourself from a very embarrassing, and even painful future in court.