Introduction to Criminal Law
Most of what we know about criminal law comes from fiction, such as movies and television. But when you or your loved one are facing a criminal matter, it is important to have the real facts so that you can make important decisions such as which criminal attorney to choose, whether to accept a plea bargain, and what to do before your criminal lawyer becomes involved. All of these decisions may seem small at the time, but in the end they may affect the outcome of your entire case. By getting all the facts on the criminal justice system, you will be able to make those crucial decisions which could prevent heavy fines or even jail time.
What is a crime?
Crimes are the basis of criminal law. Essentially a crime is something that the criminal justice system has decided is harmful to society as a whole. The punishments for crime are legal sanctions which are designed to deter people from committing crimes and if possible prevent those who commit crimes from doing it again. Anything that is considered a crime will have an official law called a ‘statute’ which gives the exact act or omission that someone has to perform in order to be considered guilty of that crime. Statutes for criminal law exist in both federal law and state law; the type of crimes that are covered by each type of criminal law are usually determined by their jurisdiction. For example, robbery is a state crime because it affects a citizen of the state while bank robbery is a federal crime because most banks are insured by the federal government. Federal and state crimes are prosecuted in separate courts, however, this does not mean that you can only be in trouble with either the federal or state government for a criminal issue. For some crimes, where multiple charges are issued, you may find yourself facing charges at both state and federal levels. When this happens it is a good idea to have an criminal attorney which experience in both types of courts to defend you.
In addition to the actual act of a crime, some crimes also depend upon the mental state of the person during the act. A good example would be the difference between murder and manslaughter. All types of murder and manslaughter involve the act of killing, however, having malicious intentions and pre-planning a killing would result in a charge of first degree murder while a sudden overwhelming emotion which results in a killing might be considered manslaughter.
Once a person has been found guilty of a crime, whether they are pleaded guilty or are found guilty by a judge or jury, they will be punished either by fines, imprisonment, probation, community service or any combination of the four. For some crimes alternative sentencing does exist, however, this depends upon the judges decision. An experienced criminal lawyer will be able to explore all the options for your case including alternative sentencing; a great attorney can also help persuade judge’s into considering those options.