Possible Defenses To Consider When Charged With A Crime
No one ever plans on getting arrested or going to jail. But sometimes life can get crazy and you can find yourself in an unexpected situation. If you have recently been charged with a crime, you may be able to beat the charges or at least mitigate your punishment if you have a good defense for what happened. Here are some of the possible defenses that you might be able to use in court after being charged with a crime.
Self Defense or Acting Out of Necessity
If you took a specific action that led to the charges against you, is it possible for you to justify what you did? A common defense in some assault cases would be to say that you hit the other person only after they struck you first. You were doing what you could to fend your attacker off and keep them away from you. This kind of defense could be bolstered if there are witnesses that saw what happened or a security video from a nearby business that will clearly show that the other person came at you first.
Intoxication Can Demonstrate You Did Not Have Intent
In some scenarios, it might be quite clear that you did something wrong. Perhaps you hit someone with your vehicle and that person is now injured or dead. While no one wants to be convicted of a DUI, admitting that you were intoxicated could actually reduce your ultimate sentence if there is a question of intent. You can say you did not mean to hurt the other person and you only hit them because you were intoxicated. This is how a murder charge, for example, could instead turn into just manslaughter. You did run someone over but you did not get into the car with intent to harm.
You Can Prove Consent
Sometimes you can be charged with a crime if you take action against another individual in some way without their consent. Maybe a police officer sees you on someone's property and charged you with trespassing. If you can prove you had the consent of the property owner to be there, the prosecutor may throw the charges out. Consent is also often a big deal when it comes to crimes of a sexual nature. If you can demonstrate that the person you were with consented to all of your actions, you can beat the charges against you.
Regardless of which criminal defense strategy you attempt, you need a criminal defense attorney by your side. Contact a law office like Cohen Law Offices, LLC today for more information.
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