Kevin C. Flesch Criminal Law Blog on Lawyers.com

Most Common Mistakes Made By Criminal Law Clients

Thursday, May 21, 2009 by Kevin C. Flesch

The first and largest mistake most folks make before they get to a Denver criminal lawyer's office is they think they can talk their way out of it. They make statements that make it very difficult to defend them in the end. My first advice to everyone who is speaking with any sort of law enforcement - or anybody who is making an allegation that they have somehow criminally done something wrong – is to not make any statements.

I advise this because normally when those individuals are talking to an alleged defendant they are looking for information to prove their case. This is true, for example, in domestic violence cases. Another example would be when you’re standing on the side of the road and the person that has pulled you over thinks that you are drunk and asks you, "Have you been drinking tonight?"

You do not have to say anything, and normally your response can create more problems down the road in your legal defense.

The next mistake is acting like you’re guilty. People do things that would indicate guilt to a normal person that hears the fact pattern and leads them to conclude, "Well you’re acting like a person who is guilty." For example, people that run away from the scene of an incident always look guilty.

The third thing is that most people don’t get a Denver criminal defense lawyer soon enough. The defendant may wait until a week away from the court appearance or a week away from trial and expect a lawyer to get involved and be able to "right the ship" and take care of everything. There just isn’t enough time to get that done.

This causes the court to get upset with the defendant. It looks as if they are dragging it out - that they are not taking it seriously. This perception may impact the sentence at some point down the road.

The final thing is following instructions. I have a number of clients that are in the system, on probation, or are somehow being supervised by some sort of government entity relating to a criminal offense. Often, they do not listen to what they have to do and do not follow through with their obligations. If people in these situations would just follow instructions, half of the time they could get these matters resolved without requiring a Denver criminal law attorney.

By Denver Criminal Defense Attorney

Posted at 08:55 AM

Topic: Criminal Law