3 Ways Criminal Attorneys Win Cases

If you've never been accused of a crime before, good. I hope you never are. But if you are accused of a crime, particularly a crime that you didn't get caught doing red handed (and sometimes even if you did), then you are going to need a good criminal attorney to help get you out of your jam. And we (I say we because I'm a Seattle criminal attorney) do this in several different ways.

And today is your lucky day because I'm going to tell you about three of them.

1. Make a Good Case Bad.

When prosecutors see a police report, let's say in a DUI case, for example, their eyes light up. They see slurred speech and maybe a little sway of the car over the line, and they think they've got a drop dead guilty verdict in their hands. The thing is, though, when I see the exact same police report my eyes light up too. Why? Because I see two things: first, I see all of the things that the jury will never get to hear because I'm going to keep them out; and second, I see all of the good things the police report doesn't say.

As a criminal attorney in Seattle, my job is to make our case as good as possible. And no offense to police officers, but they are always breaking the rules, stomping on our Constitutional rights. I point that out to the court to get as much evidence as possible suppressed. This weakens the state's case, and strengthens mine. 

Also, the police report always looks bad because the cops never put anything good in. The great thing about that, though, is that if it isn't in the report, the cop's got to assume he didn't see it. For example, no mention of slurred speech? Must not have happened. No mention of fumbling license? Must not have happened. This type of approach helps strengthen what might appear at first blush to be a weak case.

2. Bad Witnesses.

The best kinds of cases are where the witnesses aren't cops. Cops don't like to come to court, but they don't have a choice. And everybody believes cops. Regular people, they don't like to come to court. Often, if they are involved in a criminal matter, they've had some of their own problems in the past. 

This often results in two things. First, the witnesses don't look nearly as convincing as they first did for the state. And second, they often don't want to come to trial. No witnesses at trial, no case. Cases are won all the time because witnesses just don't show up.

3. Their Just as Scared to Lose as You Are.

One of the great things about being a criminal lawyer is that though there is pressure on you (you do have a client facing serious charges) you don't have the bad kind of pressure on you. Prosecutors do. Their cases are easy. They have all the facts on their side. They are expected to win. This makes them nervous.

A great technique of great criminal attorneys is to let the other side know just how bad their case is. They point out all the weaknesses (at least the ones that aren't going to be surprises), point out all the flaws, and point out all the problems they are going to have with certain elements. And then they let them know that they have a good chance of losing. Prosecutors don't want to lose. They get made fun of by their peers. They get passed over for promotions. It's just not good for them. They can count a reduction as a win - and they often do.

In the end, remember that your criminal attorney probably knows what he's doing. He's going to take a look at these three areas (and more) and do whatever he can to win your case. I hope you're never in trouble, but if you are, don't wait to talk to a lawyer. Do it as soon as possible.