Why Do I Need A Criminal Lawyer?

By Author: Mitchsexner
Total Articles: 2
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After all, you have heard that people criminally charged with serious felonies such as drug offenses, theft, burglary and even murder have represented themselves at trial. This is true. If a defendant demands of the judge to allow him/her to go it alone, ultimately, the judge will likely allow a criminal defendant to handle the case "pro se" (which means by oneself).
But is this really a good idea? Absolutely not! Any judge, prosecutor, or criminal defense attorney will tell you that this is normally a bad idea. As a matter of fact, under the law in Illinois, the judge is required to insist that the defendant get a lawyer for proper representation when a criminal charge holds the statutory potential for any jail time. That means that if the criminal statute for that crime allows punishment in jail, the judge must suggest that the client get a lawyer. If the judge determines that the defendant is too poor to hire a private criminal defense lawyer, then the judge must offer a public defender instead.
Why does a judge need to push the person charged with a crime to get a lawyer? Because the legal procedures in court ...
... are quite complicated and it is very unlikely that any defendant will do as good a job as will a trained criminal defense attorney. Experienced criminal lawyers have years of training and have represented hundreds or thousands of others charged with similar offenses like retail theft, domestic battery, assault, DUI and other crimes. Especially when jail is a possibility, the judge is correctly concerned that defendants will hurt themselves and suffer punishment that might not happen if they had proper criminal legal representation.
After all, when defendants represent themselves, the judge is under no obligation to help them understand the rules of the court or the best way to proceed. Criminal court is not "The People’s Court" where the judge explains the rules. You either know them or you don't. And if you don't, you’re probably going to be in trouble.
To offer a great criminal defense to the charges, a criminal lawyer will thoroughly examine the "discovery" materials, which means the police reports, photographs, and videos in possession of the prosecutor and police. These materials will be given to the defense if properly requested by way of subpoena or discovery motion. Once examined, the attorney may need to file certain motions to protect the rights of the defendant or to try to get the case dismissed. Some of these motions have time limitations, so that if they are not filed with the court quickly, the defendant will lose their right to proceed.
For the best criminal defense, a lawyer may also need to preserve evidence that may otherwise get destroyed or lost if not quickly requested, such a video or eyewitness testimony. But in general, there are a great many things that a skilled criminal defense lawyer can try to do to get the case dismissed or to get a finding of not guilty. No matter how smart the defendant, or how great a speaker he or she may be, without the proper legal training, it is very unlikely that a proper defense will occur.
A criminal defendant will always have the right to appeal their case if matters don’t turn out well, but the defendant may be sitting in jail while they appeal. So it is always best to do things right in the first place. A skilled and experienced criminal defense lawyer can give a defendant the best chance at success.

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