Secrets That Could Make Your Criminal Charges Go Away

 

Have you or a loved one been charged with a criminal offense in Georgia?

If so, there are some little-known programs and strategies in Georgia that could make your criminal charges disappear. These strategies require that you retain a criminal defense attorney. The following strategies may not apply in every case or in every situation, but you can call our law firm at 770-627-3221 for free and find out which program may be right in your legal matter. 

Georgia's Pretrial Diversion Program

First-time offenders in Georgia might be eligible to participate in a county-sponsored Georgia Pretrial Diversion Program. If a first-time offender is eligible and completes the program satisfactorily, the offender may avoid criminal prosecution and a potential criminal conviction. This program will also keep the offender's criminal record clean. 

To see if you are eligible for a Georgia Pretrial Diversion Program, you must speak to and retain an attorney before you accept a plea deal and before the start of your criminal trial. If you or your loved one are a first-time offender, a pretrial diversion program in Georgia may be the best option for you or your loved one since having a criminal record will have a disastrous impact on your life and livelihood. A criminal record can affect you or your loved one's ability to secure housing, receive student loans, affect employment status and disqualify you or your loved one from receiving government assistance. As previously mentioned, first-time offenders who qualify and complete a pretrial diversion program in Georgia may be able to avoid a criminal trial and keep a criminal conviction off of their criminal record.

Georgia's First Offender Act

If you or a member of your family have been sentenced under Georgia's First Offender Act and have successfully completed the sentence, you or your loved one will not have a conviction, and the criminal charge will be sealed from your official criminal history in Georgia. This means that you would have a clean criminal record and would not be required to admit to a criminal offense on job applications or if asked by potential employers. 

To be eligible, the first-time offender must speak to and retain a criminal defense attorney. The additional requirements may be read here. 

The Local Advantage - Local Attorney Relationships for the Benefit of Our Clients

A defendant should try to retain a criminal defense attorney who has experience in the courthouse where their case is pending. Although Georgia's criminal laws are in effect throughout Georgia, the judges, prosecutors, and court procedures vary from courthouse to courthouse. By way of example only, a District Attorney in one county may have a "no-plea-bargaining" policy, the District Attorney in another county may permit plea bargaining. Moreover, criminal defense attorneys in one county will usually know which prosecutors are reasonable and permit plea deals up to trial.

Local criminal defense attorneys also know the law enforcement officers and how they operate in jury trials. Defendants should retain criminal defense attorneys who are experienced with local court procedures and have a stellar reputation with the local legal community.

Should I Retain a Private Criminal Defense Attorney or Trust the Public Defender?

As aforementioned, retaining a highly respected criminal defense attorney can positively impact the disposition of your criminal case. Whether that outcome is a dismissal, lesser or fewer charges, more lenient sentencing, or an acquittal after trial, your attorney's skill, experience, and resources can have a significant impact on the outcome of your misdemeanor or felony prosecution. Although a public defender or court-appointed attorney can be just as skilled and experienced as a private attorney, limits on funding can mean extremely large caseloads and limited resources. In this article, we take a quick look at these different types of criminal defense attorneys and the relative advantages and disadvantages of each.

By way of background, most school children learn that the Sixth Amendment provides a right to assistance of counsel. However, fewer people understand the contours or history of this important protection. The Sixth Amendment provides in pertinent part that "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall have the right to have the assistance of counsel for his defense." 

Until fairly recently, this right was interpreted narrowly to safeguard the right of an accused to bring an attorney to court if one had been retained. This narrow interpretation meant many poor defendants faced an experienced prosecutor without the benefit of legal counsel. However, this right became powerful protection for the criminally accused when the Supreme Court expanded the scope of this guarantee by making the right to be represented by counsel a requirement of due process. A series of cases mandated that state and federal jurisdictions make counsel available to the poor.

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