(281) 546-6428
Select Page

If you’re charged with a criminal offense or have been arrested, then please call a criminal lawyer. You’ve got important rights when you are a potential criminal defendant. Within the Constitution of the united states, you are afforded with certain guaranteed and fundamental rights that help to make sure that you have an appropriate defense. As the criminal defendant, your rights include:

• The right to have counsel. The most significant of all of those rights is your right to be represented by way of a lawyer. Even when you can’t afford to hire legal counsel, you are guaranteed this right to have a lawyer present while being questioned. The court will appoint a lawyer on your behalf if cannot financially hire your own.

• The right to say nothing at all. The right to remain silent continues to be given its fair share of press in movies and television shows, and with several good reasons. You will have the basic right to avoid saying something to police investigators, prosecutors, among others. If you say anything it can be used against you in the courtroom. You don’t have to speak with anyone or say anything, even if you are being detained. It is important that you avoid speaking as a way to “set the record straight”, that is a foolhardy move that lots of defendants make – and this ends up with self-incrimination. Always speak through your criminal attorney.

• The right to effective aid of counsel. It is possible to help to protect this right by deciding on a reputable criminal attorney that’s experienced with representing exactly the same types of criminal defendants.

• You have the right to a speedy trial. Your lawyer will be working with the court system so that you can help your case to advance along so that you can return to your normal life.

• You maintain the right to receive a trial by a jury of your peers. You should note that this right doesn’t extend to any juvenile criminal cases.

• The right to an impartial jury. If the case has to go to trial, your experienced criminal lawyer will go through your jury selection process with your best interests in mind.

• You hold the right to confront your witnesses and also to cross-examine them. If anybody testifies against you in the courtroom then they must remain accessible for cross-examination by your lawyer.

• The right to testify all on your own behalf. You can testify in your own defense, but it’s not necessarily a good idea. Your lawyer will determine if you should take the stand or not during your trial.

• You possess the right to compel witnesses to testify. When you are a criminal defendant, you can use the potency of the subpoena to call witnesses in to testify.

• The right to produce evidence for your own defense.

Your criminal lawyer can further explain your rights and what they mean to you being a criminal defendant. Contact your lawyer without delay when you’re arrested or if you feel that your arrest is pending.