Why Hire An Experienced California Criminal Defense Lawyer?
[playht_listen_button]Being charged with a crime is a serious matter. Depending on the severity of the charge, you may be facing serious consequences. The anxiety and stress surrounding not knowing how your case will turn out can be enough to drive you up the wall. Attempting to handle your criminal matter without the help of a lawyer could turn a bad situation into a full-blown nightmare. Here’s a few reasons why you should hire an experienced California criminal defense lawyer to handle your criminal case.
You Could Go To Jail
Aside from being alive, nothing is more precious than your freedom. Spending any significant time behind bars can have long-lasting psychological effects that you may never recover from. Critically, you stand to lose your career, your family bond, and your good name if you wind up in jail. While a lawyer cannot guarantee that you will avoid a jail sentence, at minimum, they will fight on your behalf to place you in the best position possible in light of your situation. Going it alone, or retaining an unexperienced lawyer or overworked public defender, increases the risk that you don’t fare well in your criminal case.
You Could Lose Your Job
You have worked hard to get where you are at. The last thing that you want is to throw it all away. A conviction for something as routine as a DUI could result in you losing the job that you have worked so hard to get. The resulting impact to your financial future can only serve to make matters worse. An experienced criminal defense lawyer knows how important your job is and will fight hard to help you hold on to it.
You May Take A Bad Deal
If you do not have a lawyer representing you in your criminal matter, then there is a significant risk that the prosecutor may offer you a bad deal. Without a skilled professional on your side to evaluate the offer, you may end up accepting an unfavorable plea bargain. What’s worse, without adequate representation, you may take a deal not knowing that the case against you is so weak that it is highly likely that you would prevail at trial.
A Conviction May Follow You For The Rest Of Your Life
There are some criminal convictions that will impact your life for many years. A conviction of a sexual crime, for example, may require you to be placed on a sex offender registry for the rest of your life. Not only will this limit where you can work, but it may also make it difficult for you to find a place to live. You can also imagine how difficult it will be to explain to a future romantic partner why you have a conviction for sexual assault on your record.
You May Not Be Able To Afford A Conviction
Some criminal convictions involve substantial fines and fees. For example, a DUI conviction in California can cost as much as $3,000 in fines alone. That amount does not include things like the cost of reinstating your driver’s license, the administrative fees pertaining to your case, or the increase in insurance premiums that will likely occur if you have a DUI conviction on your driving record.
You Are Not A Lawyer
You would not attempt to perform surgery on yourself, right? You wouldn’t want to pilot an aircraft without having a pilot’s license and extensive training, right? Similarly, you should not try to navigate the legal world without an experienced, licensed, California criminal defense lawyer in your corner.