The Basics Of Building A Successful Criminal Defense Strategy In Florida

It is of the greatest importance to a defendant who has been charged with a crime in Florida which defense strategy his legal counsel chooses when defending him. A good attorney will likely lay out a different story for the court than that put forward by the prosecution. In addition, the defense strategy may change depending upon the answers given by the defendant during the course of the investigation and the trial. Although your attorney cannot guarantee any particular outcome as all cases are different, having a quality defense against your criminal charges in Florida greatly increases your chances of a more favorable result in court.

Typically the best defense strategy involves putting forward a true story that reflects better upon the defendant than the story put forward by the prosecution.

Truth As A Defense

Although there is generally only one set of facts, the interpretation of those facts and the story that those facts tell can be highly diverse. When looking at any scene, changing the lens or the perspective of the viewer can often alter the unchanging landscape into an entirely different scene from the vantage point of the viewer.

Successful defenses that paint a different picture of the truth include one or more of the following attributes

Using factual evidence, but with a different explanation, showing why the alternative explanation for the facts is true, often with additional evidence, and crafting a story that is likely to gain the sympathy of the judge or the jury, perhaps even by showing that the defendant attempted to prevent the crime from happening.

Adding details that change the interpretations of the facts to one that is more favorable to the defendant is one method defense attorneys use to obtain plea bargains and even acquittals for many of their clients.

Admissions Of Guilt And Denials

Generally a defendant’s story may be classified into one of three categories:

• Complete denial – a defendant denies all charges, often using an alibi to show that he could not have possibly been present to commit the crime.
• Confession – a defendant admits to committing the crimes for which they are charged.
• Admit and explain – a hybrid of the other two categories, a defendant admits to the crime but gives a justification for his actions that would lessen or remove the criminal culpability.

The category in which the defendant’s story would fall will change the way a defense attorney approaches the defense strategy to the charges against his client.

Importance Of Truthfulness To Your Attorney

In order for him or her to create the best possible defense to your Florida criminal charges, you must be completely truthful with your defense attorney. A fact that you are aware of but has not come to the attention of the prosecution may prove to be the turning point in your case that either reduces the severity of the crime or may lead to a complete acquittal of the charge.

Your attorney is legally and ethically required to keep whatever you share with him or her a secret from everyone else, and your attorney cannot be required to violate the privileged relationship between an attorney and a client, so there is little reason not to tell him or her the complete truth of the situation surrounding your criminal charges.