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Our firm has experience defending the rights of people
arrested and accused of criminal offenses. We handle
all types of criminal cases, including minor infractions
and misdemeanors and the most serious felony indictments,
such as, drunk driving (DUI), drug possession, narcotics
sales, theft and grand larceny, white collar fraud, embezzlement,
arson, and conspiracy.
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Criminal
law is the process in which the state prosecutes
an individual for committing a crime. Criminal
law differs from civil law in that criminal law
seeks punitive damages, or punishment. Civil law
can only seek compensatory, or monetary, damages.
Crimes are defined differently from state to state;
however, the American Law Institute created the
Model Penal Code, and it serves as a guideline
for all states.
Typically,
crimes are actions that are disapproved of by our
society, thus criminal
law makes these unapproved actions criminal offenses.
Crimes fall into two categories: felonies and
misdemeanors. Felonies are the “more serious” crimes
and include
murder, rape, and perjury; misdemeanors include
crimes like drunk in public or indecent public
exposure. In criminal law, in order to find a
person guilty, the prosecutor must establish “actus
reus”
(the guilty act) and “mens reas” (the guilty
mind). In addition, it is the responsibility of
the prosecutor
to find the person who is charged to be guilty
“beyond a reasonable doubt.”
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