The future can seem bleak when you’re accused of criminal wrongdoing. The threat of incarceration and a haunting criminal record can leave you on edge and struggling with anxiety caused by the uncertainty of it all. We know that these matters can be enormously stressful, especially when you feel like the evidence is mounted against you.
But we encourage you to not give up hope. After all, there are a lot of criminal defense strategies out there that may be able to help you beat the charges that you’re facing, even if you feel like you’re not going to be able to win your case.
What defense options are available to you?
The answer to that question depends on the facts at hand. However, here are some commonly utilized criminal defense strategies that you might be able to successfully utilize in your case:
- Evidence suppression: This is one of the strongest criminal defense strategies that may be available to you. Here, you essentially argue that specific pieces of evidence that the prosecution intends to use against you are tainted by illegality or should otherwise be deemed inadmissible at trial. For example, if you can demonstrate that key evidence was obtained only after an illegal search and seizure, then you can probably file a motion with the court and successfully argue that the evidence should be suppressed, meaning that it can’t be presented to the jury and used against you at trial.
- Attack witness credibility: The jury is going to be tasked with assigning the appropriate amount of weight to witness testimony. Therefore, the credibility of every witness is key to how persuasive the jury will find their testimony to be. So, you may want to depose the prosecution’s witnesses before trial so that you can highlight any inconsistencies in their testimony, explore their criminal histories, and consider whether they have any motivation to testify against you.
- Argue self-defense: If you’re being accused of an act of physical violence, then self-defense might be your best legal strategy. Here, you’ll have to show that you acted reasonably out of the belief that someone was about to use illegal force against you, and that you weren’t the initial aggressor. However, this might be powerful in cases of alleged domestic violence.
- Present an alibi: The prosecution is going to try to pin you down as being at the scene of the crime. But if you can show that you were somewhere else when the crime occurred, then you can undercut the prosecution’s case.
- Poke holes: Remember that the burden of proof lies with the prosecution, meaning that it has the responsibility to prove your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. That’s a high burden to clear. Therefore, you might be successful by simply trying to poke holes in the prosecution’s case to demonstrate that they’ve failed to meet their burden of proof.
Depending on your circumstances, you might have other defense options available to you. Therefore, you’ll want to carefully analyze the facts of your case so that you can develop the legal strategy that gives you the best chance of beating the prosecution.