Defend your case!

Are you experiencing the feeling of hopelessness due to the criminal charges you are facing. You may feel there is no way to escape criminal punishment for your involvement in a crime. However, the law recognizes many defenses that may excuse your behavior or lessen the penalty for your involvement in a crime. Okay, so you may have heard about some defenses available in a criminal trial but did you know that lawyers are constantly creating new defenses that are later being recognized in the justice system? Don’t give up on your case until you have called your local attorney Daniel Selwa to discuss your options.

Take for example, homicide, a homicide will be excusable on the ground of accident when the killing was unintentional, the defendant was acting lawfully and due care was exercised in handling of the weapon, if a weapon was used.  If the Court decides the homicide was an accident then no criminal responsibility will attach to the defendant responsible for the homicide. In the case of State v. Goodson, the homicide was ruled an accident where the defendant was acting lawfully in self-defense and the victim was shot by accident through the unintentional discharge of a gun.

There are many other examples of legal defenses which you can assert.  Were you acting under duress when you committed a crime? Perhaps you were coerced or acted under necessity. Duress is a condition of the mind that results from the external pressure or influence that practically destroys your free will.  Duress will excuse a criminal act where the degree of coercion is present, imminent, and of such to create an apprehension of death or serious bodily harm if action is not taken. Coercion results where you were under an immediate present threat of death or serious bodily injury.  In the case of State v. Houston, the Court ruled when one commits a criminal act because of the coercion of another they are innocent of criminal responsibility. On the other hand, one acts under necessity where they engage in illegal conduct in order to avoid a greater harm that would result if they did not engage in that illegal conduct.

Don’t give up on our case without mounting a proper defesne to your charge or charges; the facts could excuse your behavior. It is quite possible your facts will fit into one of the defenses discussed above. Contact your criminal attorney Daniel Selwa today to discuss your case.