Criminal Law

Criminal Law is designed to punish for committing or having involvement and deter to teach people a lesson and or make an example out of them. Generally, crimes or placed into two categories: misdeameanors (misdeameanors are generally punishable by less than a year in jail) and felonies (are generally punishable by more than a year in jail). Of course, when dealing with the law there are always exceptions. For example, Assualt and Battery of a High and Aggravated Nature is a misdeameanor and can be punished by being committed to the department of corrections for a period up to ten years. In some situations it may carry with it the burden of being registered a sex offender if the circumstances so warrant.

What should I do if I am charged with a crime?

First, consult an attorney even if you are not certain that you want to hire one. Consultations are not expensive and most attorneys will sit down with you and look up the statute/ordinance that you are accused of violating, explain to you the possible outcomes, and how you should approach the situation. I am certain everyone can agree that it is best to have as much of the information as possible prior to making any decision. What if you were charged with the wrong statute? What if there is a lesser included charge that you can plead to that does not carry the same amount of punishment (i.e. fine or jail time)? Always, get as many answers as possible. Also, you can consult more than one attorney. See what they both inform you about the law and choose which attorney you believe will best represent you and your interest.

What if I want to plead not guilty?

If you are charged with a crime and you do not want to accept the offer that the state has made to you, you can request a bench trial (where a judge can decide your innocence or guilt) or jury trial (where regular men and women will decide your guilt or innocence).
If you are charged with a misdemeanor there will generally be 6 juror members. If you are charged with a felony there will generally be 12 juror members. These will be the people who will decide your guilt or innocence. It seems scary to have 6 total strangers who almost never have any experience with law to decide a person’s fate. However, it is sometimes best to not have judges or those involved in the penal system to decide your innocent or guilt. To have ordinary people reviewing evidence to determine the guilt of a person; not a judge or a police or government agency, but members of a person’s peers that do not hold any bias or have any predisposed thoughts.

What are the alternatives to pleading Guilty and not Guilty?

An accused can always plead nolo contenderay (no contest). However, this will have the same effect as pleading guilty as it will basically be admitting all of the allegations made by the state. You can be punished the same and you will still have a police/crime record.

Do the members of the jury learn about my past criminal convictions?

Sometimes.  Depending on when you were convicted, plead guilty, or plead nolo contenderay the jury sometimes can hear about the past convictions.

Do I have to testify

No. One of the rights that every citizen has in America is the right not to incriminate their self. Each situation is fact specific and will almost always require the advice of competent counsel.

Some of the areas we cover in South Carolina are:

• Felonies
• Misdemeanors
• Traffic Violations
• DUI's/DWI's
• CDV's
• Drug Charges