When you’ve been arrested and charged with a crime you’re going to need to go through the court system to find out if you will be convicted and, if so, what your sentence will be. This is often a long process and is often very complicated. During this process, you generally have three options for representation for your case. These are to represent yourself, to have a public defender or to hire a criminal lawyer yourself.
Representing Yourself
You are allowed to represent yourself in court, but this is usually not a good option. You do not have the experience and knowledge to properly defend yourself, as you have not gone to school or practiced law before. You can end up with a conviction and the maximum sentence easily if you attempt to represent yourself.
Hiring a Public Defender
If you cannot afford a lawyer, you have the option of hiring a public defender. While this is better than representing yourself, often a public defender will not have much time to work on your case. They may convince you to plead guilty to avoid a long drawn out trial, even if it’s not in your interests to do so.
Hiring Your Own Lawyer
The final option is to hire a Criminal Lawyer in Chicago to represent you. Since you are paying for the lawyer and they are not overloaded with cases, they are in a position to help you as much as you need. This often means a much better result for your case. They will not make you plead guilty if it’s not in your interest, and they will help you to obtain the minimum sentence possible if you are convicted.
As you can see, it’s typically better to hire a Criminal Lawyer in Chicago than to try to do it yourself or to rely on a public defender. While it can be expensive to hire a lawyer, it’s usually less expensive than dealing with a large sentence and the outcome of that once you are free to go. For more information or to hire a criminal lawyer to represent you, contact John Fitzgerald Lyke Jr. today.
