THE BEST CRIMINAL DEFENSE SOLUTION IN WEBSTER GROVES MO. WE ARE THE PEOPLE’S COUNSEL
There are two major mistakes people make when facing criminal charges in Webster Groves Missouri: 1) They do not reach out to a criminal defense lawyer to help them out; and 2) Since they never hire an attorney, they almost always end up pleading guilty to the charge.
Let’s concentrate on #1 first. The vast majority of people who have been charged criminally in Webster Groves Missouri never seek the aid of a lawyer. Instead, they end up representing themselves in front of the judge. This is obviously a roll of the dice because most folks do not possess any legal expertise (or perhaps a common understanding based on what they have gleaned from television).
But when an individual stands at the podium in the middle of court, he/she is only going to receive one question from the judge: “You’ve been charged with a misdemeanor crime. How do you plead?”
PLEADING GUILTY IS NOT YOUR BEST (OR ONLY) OPTION! OUR LEGAL TEAM IS READY TO DEFEND YOUR RIGHTS
It is at this point in the process that people believe that they will be given the chance to explain their side of the story. To give the judge some details that might help to show that he/she should never have been charged. But this belief is incorrect. The only thing the judge will want to hear is: “Guilty” or “Not guilty”
If you do immediately respond with an answer of Guilty or Not Guilty, the judge may very well explain the difference by saying the following: “If you plead not guilty tonight, the matter will be set for a trial at a later date. If you plead guilty tonight, you’ll receive a fine from the clerk, and then you can leave.”
So guess what ends up happening? Just as it was mentioned in #2 of the first paragraph, self-represented people will, nine times out of ten, plead guilty. Why? Believe it or not, one of the main reasons why folks plead guilty is because of the judge. By explaining the difference between Guilty and Not Guilty in that manner, the judge can lead the defendant to believe that he/she is getting off scot-free. “No jail time? I can go home tonight?? I just got lucky!”
But this euphoria is short-lived. Because that admission of guilt will now be turned into a criminal conviction on your permanent record. This will be major problem if you ever wish to gain employment in the future. Why? Because most employers run criminal background checks on all potential employees. And once they see the conviction on your record, there is a very good chance that you will be eliminated as a candidate for the job.
WEBSTER GROVES MISSOURI CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER
The same thing would be true when you go to rent an apartment. The application you fill out for the landlord will include a notification stating that a background check is automatically run on all applicants. (FYI: If the charge you plead guilty to is drug-related, then you might as well not even attempt public housing. The rules regarding clean records for such applicants are extremely strict). Or if you wanted to take out a business or education loan, those opportunities of funding (for a new restaurant or college) can dissolve once a background check is made.
So as you can see, the long-term consequences of 1) not hiring an attorney, and 2) the fact that you will likely end up pleading guilty as a result of this decision, are enormous! But your case does not have to turn out this way!! There is a much different path. And that path begins the moment you contact The People’s Counsel!
Our Webster Groves MO criminal defense lawyers have successfully handled hundreds of cases all over the St Louis area (and all across the state of Missouri). One of the first steps that we will take in our representation is to determine whether the charge(s) hold any merit. It is always possible, for one reason or another, that the facts and circumstances surrounding your case could result in a dismissal. For instance, if the police officer who issued the criminal citation violated one your Constitutional rights while performing his/her duties (like mishandling evidence, or conducting a search and/or seizure in violation of your Fourth Amendment rights), then we would be in a good position to ask that the charges be dropped altogether.
In the alternative, because we have established a good working relationship with the local prosecutor in Webster Groves MO, our legal team might have an opportunity to put together a “plea bargain,” in which the prosecutor recommends to the court that the misdemeanor crime you’ve been charged with (such as trespassing, marijuana possession, or disturbing the peace) be amended down to a lesser offense (like “Littering,” which is a low-level infraction that would never appear on your permanent record).
The main goal of our Webster Groves Missouri criminal defense attorneys, of course, is to prevent this charge from ruining your life. If we can reduce the negative impact to a minimum (or even eliminate it altogether), that is obviously far better than you walking into court by yourself (and very likely pleading guilty). All you have to do is give us a call, and we will swing into action! We look forward to hearing from you!!