Law Blog » Criminal Law

Criminal Lawyers

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 19:16:01 +0000

Those who have been charged with a crime are entitled to legal representation. A public defender is counsel appointed for free to represent the accused. A private San Antonio Criminal Attorney charges a fee to repesent the person charged with a crime. A criminal lawyers job is to zealously defend on behalf of their client.

Criminal Law is an action in which the state brings an action against the individual charged. A district attorney will review the evidence and usually offer some sort of plea deal to the individual’s attorney. The definitions and penalties for different states vary from state to state. You can see your states respective criminal codes by looking at the 2009 penal code publishing.

The list of criminal statutes includes a list of criminal offenses, which are established by Congress or state legislatures. The primary objective of criminal law is to set punishment for criminal offenses. The burden of proof in a U.S. state or federal criminal prosecution is proof beyond a reasonable doubt. In civil law, this proof falls under the much less stringent standard of preponderance of the evidence.

The criminal prosecution and defense process consists of a variety of elements and procedures. However, not all criminal prosecutions involve so many layers or as complex. The list includes pleas, arrest, charges, trials, pretrial hearings, discovery, evidence review, arraignment, grand juries, dismissed cases, pleas, discovery, jury selection or voi dire, evidence, motions, appeals, and posttrial remedies.

San Antonio Criminal Lawyer Website

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 21:11:03 +0000

For information on criminal law and lawyers in San Antonio, you should read SanAntonioCriminalLawyer.org. This is a blog style legal site with information on DWIs, public intoxication, theft, Internet crimes, white collar crimes, and other felonies and misdemeanors. A better San Antonio criminal lawyer will have experience in the jurisdiction and crime charged with. Be sure to research your attorney and their reputation before making a choice on who will defend you against charges. It is also helpful if you learn more about the Texas Penal Code in regards to what you have been charged with.

Exclusionary Rule Scope

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 08:15:57 +0000

This blog will discuss the standing to object to the admission of evidence. The concept of standing to object to the admission of evidence seized during an illegal search refers to a party’s legal right to object. Traditionally, to have standing to contest a search, a party must have had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the place searched. Some courts recognized that standing was required to challenge a search while other courts did not. In Alderman vs. United States, the Supreme Court reaffirmed that a 4th Amendment violation can only be brought up by the person whose rights were violated, not by those who were collaterally hurt by the introduction of such evidence. This decision was based, in part, on the public policy that the public has an interest in seeing criminals prosecuted on the basis of all the evidence which exposes the truth.

Knowledge in Criminal Law

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 11:22:05 +0000

A person acts knowingly with respect to the nature of his conduct or to circumstances surrounding his conduct when he is aware of the nature of his conduct or that the circumstances exist. A person acts with knowledge with respect to a result of his conduct when he is aware that his conduct is reasonably certain to cause the result. In State vs. Beale, a subjective test for knowledge offered that it was not enough that a reasonable person would know, Beale himself must have known that the merchandise was stolen. The court said this was the test for criminal liability. This is not the rule in every jurisdiciton. The true test for knowledge was to ask did the defendant in this case know the goods were stolen? Direct proof was not required. It is enough if Defendant is made aware of circumstances which caused him to believe that the goods were stolen. The court was concerned with the defendant’s conduct and whether it evidenced showing awareness.

Criminal Law Theories

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 06:24:54 +0000

There is much debate over whether our current criminal law system is more beneficial than other criminal law systems. There are 5 primary reasons for our criminal systems within the world. One is retribution. The thinking here is that those who have done wrong should suffer in some way because others and/or the community on a whole have suffered in some way. Also, deterrence is another objective of the penal system. The idea is that the penalty suffered will deter others from behaving criminally. You constantly see law makers trying to size up whether current penalties are tough enough in relation to the behavior they are believed to thwart. Prison systems are set up for incapacitation. This is to keep the wrong doers away from society as their misconduct is a detriment to us all. Rehabilitation is what we strive for. The goal is prevention by way of education and individual learning process. Lastly, there is retribution which is where the victim is compensated for their loss or harm suffered. This is common in civil law as well. Criminal defense attorneys often argue that punishments are too harsh for many crimes.