Once you are thrown into the midst of having to defend yourself against legal accusations and charges, understanding all of the legalities of your situation can be quite difficult, if not entirely impossible. Luckily, you don’t have to go it alone. In fact, regardless of everything that has happened up until this point, including the activity or event that you are being charged for, one of the best things you can do for yourself moving forward is to hire the proper legal representation.
As an experienced lawyer in Charleston, South Carolina, Stephen Harris understands that finding out that criminal charges are being brought against you is undoubtedly a trying time. And that stress is only multiplied when you discover that these charges are federal. The government doesn’t like to lose a case, he warns, which means that you can guarantee that the road ahead of you must be taken seriously and that there is very little room for error.
While any legal case from a misdemeanor to a lawsuit must be taken seriously, to understand why federal cases are handled so critically, you first have to examine how they differ from charges that are brought against you by the state. As both a state and federal criminal defense lawyer in Charleston, Harris explains that state court is driven by past precedents and decisions that have been made within that state previously. And while the laws and guidelines are taken very seriously, when compared to cases that are held in federal court, state cases don’t require quite as much preparation and diligence.
Federal court, on the other hand, is ruled by constitutional law. This includes many crimes that are deemed as “white-collar,” such as insider trading, as well as crimes committed against government agencies like the FCC or Department of Education and any crimes that take place across various state lines. Additionally, Harris continues, in federal criminal court, there is a federal grand jury that decides the fate of your case, and this jury sits for a month as opposed to the standard week that a jury meets for in a state criminal case.
What all of this means for you is that your lawyer must prepare differently for a federal case. It’s very likely, Harris says, that the government has a strong case against you and has been spending months, if not longer, gathering evidence and testimony. There are also many more laws that need to be taken into consideration, and since the verdict will ultimately be governed in large part by the constitution, there is very little room for variance. Though this may not mean very much to you as the defendant, it does mean that you have to be completely honest and cooperative with your lawyer. You’ll need to disclose any information you know about the evidence that the government has against you, and you’ll need to share any communication you’ve had with the government as well. Keep in mind that hiding anything from your lawyer will probably only hurt your case.
In federal cases, more so often than state criminal cases, there is a strong likelihood that your case will settle out of court. However, Harris says, even though it may seem like your case will settle, you and your attorney should always be prepared to move further into the stages of an actual trial. To ensure that the outcome of your particular case, whether federal or state, is as positive as can be, it’s important that you hire an attorney such as Harris or his partner Ted Huge who practices federal litigation, and who has the experience and knowledge to represent you.
This article is for informational purposes only. You should not rely on this article as a legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances, and you should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. Publication of this article and your receipt of this article does not create an attorney-client relationship.
