Lessening The Impact Of Criminal Charges On Your Life
Whether you've made a poor decision or have been unfairly charged with a crime, you will need an attorney working with you to lessen the impact that those charges will have on your life. Here, you'll find a few tips to help you get through the criminal court process without making things worse for yourself.
Get a Criminal Defense Lawyer
It doesn't matter if you did it or didn't do it – you still need legal representation to help you through the process. If you go about things on your own, you could easily find yourself paying the maximum fines or serving the maximum jail time.
An attorney will know when evidence can be excluded, will know how to go about getting witnesses lined up and so much more.
Prepare for Missed Work
You will have at least a couple of court dates and will need time to meet with your attorney, so plan now for a few days of missed work. Talk with your employer about what's going on, or just preserve all of your personal and vacation days so that you can use those excused days to take care of things.
Drug and Alcohol Treatment
If your criminal charges are based solely on, or partially on the fact that you were intoxicated or impaired, consider getting involved in some sort of drug and alcohol treatment plan. Chances are, the courts will order you into treatment anyway, so why not do it on your terms – get it done before you appear in front of the judge and it will show the judge that you're working to improve your life. That can go a long way in getting a more lenient punishment.
Look Your Best
Don't show up in front of the judge looking as if you're going to hang out with some friends. Your appearance needs to be clean, responsible, and respectable. Skip the low-cut shirts and short skirts and never go to court wearing jeans and a t-shirt – show the judge the respect that he or she deserves. It's best for men to show up wearing a tie and women wearing respectable dress clothes.
Don't wait to begin looking for an attorney and making changes to improve your life now. Hopefully, things will all get squared away, and you'll be able to walk away without any of this impacting your life, but if so, you're in a better position to handle the outcome. For more information and tips with your case, check out a website like http://wolfleylawoffice.com/.