Your Rights On A Criminal Case

admin — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:52:22 +0000

Criminal cases happen very often and very often the defendants are responsible for some serous violations, so it is hard to preserve the individual rights of the citizen especially at the early stages of a criminal case. Stages like arrest and booking usually happen very fast and are not controlled well like the courtroom stages, so it will be useful to know your rights right from the beginning. During a criminal case you always have a number of rights at every stage of the process, except for the basics like human rights of course. Generally the rights are related to stages of a criminal case. Feel free to consult with your lawyer about violations that were made at the early stages of a criminal case. For example evidence that was obtained in an illegal will not be accepted by the court.

At the arrest stage you have the right to know why you were arrested, usually police provides a warrant immediately or within 48 hours. You have a right to contact your lawyer or a lawyer will be provided by the state if you can’t afford one. You have the right to be bailed out. It is a usual process when you are arrested, you or your representative (friends, relatives, lawyer) can put in a sum of money and be released if you promise to appear before court at a certain hearing. If you do so, the court will refund the money. But if you violate the terms of bail, the court won’t refund your money and you will most probably loose the right to be bailed out. During the arrangement stage you have the right not to plea guilty or not guilty, but to reply as “no contest”. At any moment after the arrangement phase you have the right to plea bargain, taking a part of guilt and accepting the charges for a lesser punishment, in many types of cases (like insurance claims) it is usually the final stage of the court hearings.

You are also protected by the constitution from unreasonable intrusion into your home, business, and property. The police also have no rights to search you on the street without a special permission. You also have the right not to make any statements during the first stages of the criminal case, because some things that you say might be used against you in court.

After the sentencing you have a right to appeal if, you consider that the decision was unlawful. Your lawyer can pass an appeal to a higher court and it will review the work of a lower court for possible mistakes. If they agree with the decision of the lower court, the appeal can be passed to Supreme Court for another review. You also have a right not to receive cruel and unusual punishment. And remember the most important thing, that the main right you have during any criminal case is a right to be treated as a human being.