The legal system is complicated. When someone is facing legal action, knowing they can work with a lawyer to find their way through what may be the most confusing time they have experienced can be very comforting. Lawyers could be needed for family law, adoption, wills and probate and criminal law. It’s important to understand that there is a difference between civil law and criminal law.
Civil law refers to legal action focused on business law in many cases, and even though a single person can have civil law charges against them, these charges usually require payment of fines or judgment that is monetary. In criminal law fines are possible, but the main focus is usually to prosecute someone based on violent harm caused to another person so that they serve time in jail depending on their charges.
Someone charged in Pennsylvania under criminal law is charged by the district attorney or someone who is a prosecutor in the office of the district attorney. Members of law enforcement may arrest someone based on a warrant, or when they actually witnessed a crime, or when it is suspected that a crime has taken place. After taking someone into custody, members of law enforcement must provide a warning under the Miranda act. Click here for more details about the tips on hiring criminal defense lawyers in Scranton, PA.
At a processing location, which in Pennsylvania is typically a jail, bail must be set. At this point, a preliminary arraignment date and time is set, then a preliminary hearing. Following the preliminary hearing and depending on the county, a pretrial conference or Call of the List will take place, followed by the scheduling of a trial. After the trial, a verdict will be given, after which, another hearing will take place for sentencing. It is highly advised that if someone is charged for a criminal offense in Pennsylvania that they get an attorney to represent them and their rights throughout the legal processes.
Choosing the right criminal defense lawyers in Scranton, PA is crucial to make sure the rights of the person charged are not violated.
