Key steps to building a strong criminal defense

A criminal conviction can cause serious damage to the life that you’ve built for yourself. While it can certainly threaten you with incarceration, thereby ripping your freedom away, it can also lead to several other collateral consequences, such as lost employment, a criminal record that makes it difficult to secure future employment and housing, damage to your reputation, and even your ability to maintain a meaningful relationship with your children if you’re embroiled in a custody dispute. With so much on the line, you owe it to yourself to fight the charges levied against you as aggressively as possible.

But what’s the best way to do that? The answer to that question depends on the type of charges you’re facing and the facts in play. However, there are several legal strategies that can and should be implemented across the board. Let’s look at some of them in the remainder of this post so that you have a better idea of the steps you can take to increase your chances of beating the prosecution.

Key building blocks to your criminal defense

Regardless of the type of criminal charges you’re facing, there are certain steps that you should take to build your defense. Here are some of them:

• Depose key witnesses for the prosecution: By deposing witnesses, you gain insight into how they’ll testify in court. This allows you to then develop a strategy for cross-examination. However, depositions open other areas of opportunity, too. For example, if you subpoena a witness to a deposition and they fail to appear without justification, then you might be able to secure a court order denying the prosecution from using that witness against you. Also, if the witness does show up and you depose them, you might be able to get them to answer in ways that destroy their credibility and thus the strength of the prosecution’s case. This is particularly true when the witness makes inconsistent statements.
• Analyze any searches and seizures that were conducted: Before bringing charges against you, the police probably conducted at least one search and seizure that led to the recovery of incriminating evidence. While that evidence can be powerful in court, you might be able to block it from being used against you. To do this, you’ll probably have to show some violation of your Constitutional rights, such as being searched after an unfounded traffic stop or after police obtained a warrant based on false information. Be diligent in looking for these errors so that you can try to sink the prosecution’s case by preventing them from presenting key evidence against you.
• Find and prepare favorable witnesses: You can’t expect the jury to take you at your word. In fact, testifying in your own defense is incredibly risky. So, identify witnesses who can help you build an alibi or otherwise diminish the strength of the prosecution’s case.

There are other steps you can and should take, of course. This includes educating yourself on the law and identifying case weaknesses so that you can work to mitigate them. However, taking the three steps mentioned above should give you a strong starting point when building your criminal defense.

Take control of your criminal case

It’s easy to feel like your criminal case and your future is slipping away from you when the prosecution aggressively pursues charges. But don’t be intimidated. Instead, diligently work to build an effective criminal defense so that you take back control of your case. If you want to learn more about what approaches you can take in your specific case, then be sure to discuss your unique set of circumstances with your attorney.