Whenever the government accuses someone of committing a crime, there is a legal process that she/he/they must go through. These steps help ensure both the rights of the defendant, while helping bring justice for the victims in the case. Our homicide private investigator at our private investigation agency in OKC has put together a list of steps in the criminal justice system, so that both potential and current clients can better understand it. These steps include, but are not limited to, the following:
Before any arrest takes place, police and any private investigators working on the case must first investigate to properly ascertain what occurred. If a crime did occur, police and prosecutors will first need solid evidence to make charges stick. If they do not have it, they may first bring the person of interest (POI) in for questioning.
Criminal private detectives from private investigation agencies near me may also conduct criminal private investigations. This occurs when families and friends of the victim and/or the victim of a crime hires outside help to do a more thorough investigation into the matter and present any evidence to law enforcement personnel.
These individuals hire extra outside help, because they want an independent set of eyes on the case. Indeed, sometimes police and other law enforcement agencies show a clear lack of interest, or they lack the human resources, time, training, and/or financial ability to do a proper criminal investigation. Licensed private investigators are a vital complement to police investigations, because they work directly for the victims, families, and friends and can help bring perpetrators to justice.
Sometimes criminal defense attorneys and accused perpetrators also directly hire a rape private investigator to help bolster their criminal defense. Indeed, the best criminal defense lawyers know that they will need a skilled professional to help find out facts, interview witnesses, and gather evidence that could help exonerate their clients. Indeed, while prosecutors are supposed to hand over exculpatory evidence over to a criminal defendant’s attorney, some “forget” and most certainly do not specifically look for evidence which might hurt their case and clear the criminal defendant.
When police decide they have enough evidence to arrest a suspect, they proceed with taking the person into custody. They either secure an arrest warrant from a judge or magistrate. If they have probable cause at the scene of a crime, such as if there is a dead body and they come upon the suspect holding a knife with blood on it, they will also take the person into custody.
Placing the suspect into custody often involves putting handcuffs onto the person to prevent struggling, restrict movement, and prevent violent actions against the officers and others in the area. Police also search the individual, checking for drugs, weapons, evidence, and other contraband. They then transport the person to the appropriate jail facility, depending upon the area and severity of the crime.
Once at the jail, the guards often search the suspect once again, even more thoroughly, and place the person into a holding facility for processing. They gather vital information about the suspect and take a photograph as the jail booking photo. At this point, the defendant will either need to get a bail bond from a bail bondsman in OKC if the judge sets a bond amount, will need to secure a personal recognizance (PR) bond that lets them out for free on the promise they will come back, or they must sit in jail and await trial.
If police arrest someone in one state or country but the criminal charges stem from another state or country, then the first step will be an extradition hearing. Extradition hearings are used to determine whether the government can force the individual to go back to the jurisdiction where the charges originate. The defendant may contest extradition, instead fighting to stay put and ignore the charges. Sometimes this is successful, but most times fighting extradition does not work.
In addition, if the suspect wins the extradition portion but travels to another state or country thereafter, that new place can attempt to extradite her/him/them back to the state or country where the charges originate. Our private eyes have seen multiple defendants win extradition, but then mistakenly get careless and think law enforcement officers in other locations will not subsequently place them under arrest. Indeed, winning extradition does not automatically make criminal charges disappear.
If a judge sets a bond amount for the defendant, then the individual can hire a bail bondsman and pay about ten percent of the bond amount to the legal professional. The bond amount usually depends on the severity of the crime, the accused defendant’s past criminal record, and the potential flight risk the individual poses.
Bail bondsmen usually have special requirements, such as check-ins, bans on traveling out of state, etc. This is because if the person skips out on bond, the government can potentially hold the bondsman liable for the entire amount of the bail bond. They or the judge may require the defendant to wear an ankle monitor to detect the person’s location. It is the bail bondsman’s responsibility to ensure the defendant who is on bond with her shows up to court.
If an individual hires a bail bondsman to get them out of jail, the individual must then hire a criminal defense attorney to help represent them in court. The courts figure that if they can afford to hire a bail bondsman to get out of jail, that they can also afford to hire a defense attorney in Oklahoma to help them. Thus, our human trafficking private investigators at our private investigation agency in OKC point out that fortune in the American justice system favors just those who are White, but also those with significant financial means to hire bail bondsmen, the best criminal defense lawyers, and criminal private investigators to help them navigate the process.
For those who cannot afford a bail bond and thus an Oklahoma criminal defense attorney, they sit in jail unless and until a judge orders their release on a personal recognizance (PR) bond, the person’s charges are dismissed, or the jury or judge grants an acquittal. Once again, this demonstrates how our judicial system favors the wealthy. Those who can afford to bond out and hire help do, while those who cannot rot in prison and get subpar legal representation.
This is the first major step in the legal process, and it usually occurs after the defendant has already faced arrest. Indeed, by this point in time, many accused suspects with less serious charges who can afford to bond out of jail have already done so. At any rate, this is the time when the judge formally presents the defendant with the charges, advises the individual of her/his/their legal rights, states or restates the bond amount, and asks the defendant to make a formal plea.
As another legal safeguard for defendants going through the criminal justice system, preliminary hearings are a little “practice trial” to see if enough probable cause exists to force the defendant to continue through the criminal proceedings. If criminal defendants’ attorneys successfully convince a judge that no probable cause exists to warrant continued judicial proceedings against her client, then the judge can dismiss the charges. If successful, the defendants are free to go, though prosecutors may elect to appeal the decision.
Our kidnapping private investigator notes that many defendants waive their right to a preliminary hearing, while others do not. Sometimes suspects and their lawyers feel that probable cause exists, so having a preliminary hearing would just be a waste of time. Whatever the case, defendants have a right to preliminary hearings, but they do not have to go through them.
This is the point when the best criminal defense lawyers near me and prosecutors share the evidence they intend to use at trial. This gives each side the chance to review the evidence, verify its validity, and try to locate additional evidence to refute and counter the other’s sides information. Types of evidence our rape private investigator at our private detective agency in Oklahoma helps locate may include, but are not limited to, the following:
As you can see, our sex trafficking private investigators that conduct human trafficking private investigations often produce a plethora of information, as do the criminal defense attorneys representing defendants in the legal system. Prosecutors are supposed to hand over any exculpatory evidence that could help free criminal defendants, but some unscrupulous ones withhold the evidence illegally to try to boost their chances of a successful “conviction” by a jury or judge.
Our criminal defense private detective knows that most criminal cases settle out of court. Many times, prosecutors offer the defendant and her/his/their criminal defense lawyer in Oklahoma City a plea deal. Plea deals usually contain better terms than what a defendant will get if a judge or jury convicts her/him/them. Most times, prosecutors and judges only allow plea deals if the defendant pleads guilty and forfeits all future appeals.
Occasionally, judges and prosecutors will allow a defendant to make an Alford plea, or a plea of “no contest.” This means the defendant does not admit guilt, yet she accepts the charges and the punishment. One other advantage of the no lo contender plea is in civil cases, because pleas of guilt often mean an admission of guilt that civil courts can also use to find the defendant liable in civil cases. However, when a criminal defendant instead makes an Alford plea, there is no admission of guilt. Thus, civil lawyers and plaintiffs in cases seeking monetary damages thus have a more difficult time proving guilt, in the absence of an automatic admission of guilt.
It is important to note that judges do not have to accept plea bargains. If they think they are too lenient or even too harsh. Indeed, our homicide private investigator in Oklahoma has seen plenty of instances where judges have outright rebuked such plea bargains prosecutors and criminal defense lawyers have struck.
Some prosecutors do not offer plea deals for high profile cases or extremely grisly crimes, forcing defendants to either go to trial or make a blind plea before the judge. Blind pleas, our romance scam private investigator at our private detective agency in Watonga, OK note, can be especially perilous. By not knowing what they are facing when entering the court room, criminal private investigations show repeatedly that defendants who plead guilty in court via a non-appealable blind plea face an especially daunting future.
Before trial begins, both prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys may opt to file motions which may benefit their side. Our burglary private investigator notes that the following motions in criminal cases at this point in the process are the most common:
At any time in the proceeding, both criminal defense lawyers in Edmond and prosecutors may file a Motion to Dismiss, asking the court to drop the criminal charges against the defendant. They may do this because insufficient evidence exists to proceed or in the interest of justice. Judges make rulings on these types of motions based upon the evidence and the merit of the motion’s legal contentions.
Sometimes lawyers will want to limit what the other side can admit into trial. This means asking the court to exclude or limit certain pieces of evidence, testimony, arguments, or other things that could prove detrimental to the attorney’s case. Criminal defense attorneys and prosecutors might even want to exclude evidence and reports from licensed private investigators in Oklahoma.
The United States Constitution guarantees criminal defendantsthe right to a speedy trial in the Sixth Amendment. If the criminal defense attorney and the defendant want to proceed quickly to trial, they have the right and can invoke it as such. However, since criminal trials, especially ones where the government has alleged particularly serious charges against the defendant, are extremely complex and can require extensive amounts of time for both sides to adequately prepare, many criminal defense attorneys in OKC advise their clients to waive their constitutional right to a speedy trial.
Sometimes prosecutors will not hand over evidence criminal defense attorneys have demanded access to in the discovery process and vice versa. When this occurs, attorneys for both sides in a criminal case can file Motions to Compel Discovery of Evidence to ask the judge to force their hand and fork over the needed evidence.
If a criminal defense attorney believes that her client cannot receive a fair trial in the city or court of jurisdiction the trial will take place in, then she may ask the judge in the case to move jurisdiction to another location. This is most common in especially high-profile trials where the media has given an enormous amount of negative coverage that has shed the defendant in a bad light. When the best criminal defense lawyer believes her client cannot receive a fair trial because the court of public opinion has already convicted her client, filing a Motion for a Change of Venue is the best professional option in her arsenal of arrows in her legal quiver.
Bryan Kohberger’s main legal counsel, Anne Taylor, famously filed a Motion for a Change of Venue, asking the court to move Bryan’s trial to another county further away with a more diverse group of jury pool possibilities. Otherwise, Anne Taylor and her private investigator claimed Mr. Kohberger would not have received a fair trial.
Criminal defense attorneys and prosecutors alike can also file a Motion to Modify Conditions of a Defendant’s Release. They may want loose rules, such as a lower or higher bond amount or the removal of an ankle monitor. There can also be other special conditions that our theft private investigators and criminal defense lawyers think might benefit their clients. The judge gets the overall final say in the outcome of these motions.
This type of motion is another way for a clever criminal defense to try to secure a dismissal for her client is to file a Motion to Demur. This states that even if the prosecution’s legal claims are valid and real, they have nonetheless failed to state a legal claim that has any validity to it. If successful, the judge can dismiss the criminal charges, and the defendant gets to walk free. Prosecutors may still appeal the judge’s decision though.
Criminal defense attorneys sometimes file Motions for Mistrials due to some egregious error they believe may irreparably bias the jury against their client. If granted, the legal system must start again from the beginning, but some judges do grant these types of motions in the interest of justice and properly maintaining an accused criminal’s right to a fair trial.
The motions we listed above are only a partial listing of the types of pre-trial motions attorneys for both sides can file. This is not meant to be a complete list. Ask the owners of our Oklahoma private investigation agency for more information, if you wish to know more specifics about other types of motions during criminal proceedings.
If one or both sides in a criminal proceeding insist upon going to trial, then they make formal arguments before a judge in a bench trial or before about twelve jury members. The judge and/or jury end up making the final decision during criminal trials, both with the verdict and any accompanying sentencing. Sometimes plea deals occur during the trial itself.
If a jury brings back a guilty verdict and the defendant’s criminal defense lawyer in Oklahoma believes no reasonable jury should have arrived at that conclusion, the criminal defense attorney in OKC, OK may file a Motion for a Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict, or a Motion Nono Obstante Veredicto. If a judge grants this motion, she/he/they is/are effectively vacating the jury’s decision, and the defendant is free to go. This rarely happens, but sometimes in extreme examples it can have fantastic results.
In the event of an adverse judgment that one side does not like, both prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys alike may ask the judge to poll the jury. This allows the judge to individually ask each juror if the verdict they returned was the real and true verdict each juror voted for. This gives jurors the opportunity to speak up, if they felt coerced to return a verdict they did not support and/or the misunderstood something on the jury verdict form that could have accidentally caused them to return the wrong verdict.
If criminal defense attorneys in Bethany, OK fail when attempting the tactics we described, they and their clients may also appeal rulings to higher courts. Most appeals, both civil and criminal, only have about a ten percent chance of success. So, it is important to hire the best criminal defense attorney and to locate the best private investigator during the criminal trial phase, to give the criminal defendant the best chance of succeeding and securing a more favorable judicial outcome.
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