You, as the defendant in your criminal case, have the option of either pleading guilty or proceeding to trail. If you sit down with your defense attorney, there are a variety of scenarios and options that you will discuss, such as the pros and cons of going to trial. There are many consequences in choosing… Read More
Posts Tagged With: guilty
A Defendant’s Mental State at the Time of a Crime
In many cases, a defendant’s mental state at the time of the crime is considered when a case makes it to court – even when you least expect it. For instance, in some cases, you may be able to prove that you didn’t actually intend to commit a crime and the prosecutor may not be… Read More
Help, I Have Been Accused of Insurance Fraud in California
In many cases, insurance fraud takes place in California when an insured individual makes a false claim so that they can receive compensation that was not intended for them. You can’t look at a person and determine if they have committed insurance fraud – because officials have prosecuted doctors, lawyers, and everyday people for these… Read More
Eyewitness Testimony: Should it Always be Trusted in Court?
18 U.S. Code 3502 covers the admissibility in evidence of eyewitness testimony. It states that “the testimony of a witness that he saw the accused commit or participate in the commission of the crime for which the accused is being tried shall be admissible in evidence in a criminal prosecution in any trial court ordained… Read More
How You Can Handle Criminal Charges When You’re Innocent
Nobody wants to be accused of a crime they didn’t commit. This is why the laws are forever changing, such as one in California from this year where help is given to those who can prove their innocence: If a criminal defendant is found not guilty in California now, their public defender services are free… Read More
I Committed a Federal Crime: What Steps Will Take Place?
When you are involved in the federal criminal system, there are many steps involved that you might experience. As you will find, with federal crimes, there are many differences in the steps that occur compared to the state criminal process. These include the following: Titles of people involved, as state cases are brought by the… Read More
Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity: A California Legal Defense
You may have seen somebody claiming not guilty by reason of insanity on television shows or on movies. However, even though these crime shows make it look easy, using this defense is not an easy task whatsoever. Today, only about 1% of all court cases involve the insanity defense, and it is only successful in… Read More
Mistrials and What Happens When There is a Hung Jury
Mistrials happen for many reasons, most of them happening when there is a failure to return a unanimous verdict. Mistrials are a way for the judge or jury to go to trial to discuss issues so that they can go forth with the actual trial. If a judge believes that jurors have researched a case… Read More
Why is There a Low Percentage of Criminal Cases Going to Trial?
Many people involved in the criminal court system understand that the majority of cases will never reach trial. In many cases, before a verdict can be reached, a case will be dropped due to lack of evidence. Sometimes conviction can be avoided because of a motion to suppress evidence, and in many of the cases,… Read More
White Collar Crimes: Do They Tend to Carry Long Prison Sentences?
White collar crimes are typically those that are committed through some type of deceit and have a financial gain at the end. Some of the most common types include fraud, embezzlement, tax evasion, and money laundering. At The Law Office of Peter Blair, we specialize in defense of these very serious crimes and try to… Read More
