When Oregonians are facing criminal charges, it can be difficult for them to know what to do. Oregon residents may be scared about their future or angry about the charges. Those charged need to their criminal defense options as they are entitled to present a defense to tell their side of the story.
There are several common criminal defense strategies that could be employed in any given situation. This blog post can only provide general information about these strategies. An attorney, on the other hand, can give specific legal advice about a person's best options in a given situation.
In general, people have two options when it comes to defending charges. One, they can admit to doing the act, but give specific reasons why they should not be held responsible for their actions. In these cases, people argue that some set of facts explains why they acted the way they did. Self-defense, for example, falls under this category. In a self-defense case, people are admitting to the behavior, but explaining why they should not be punished. The insanity defense, entrapment and under the influence defense all fall under this general category.
On the other hand, people can choose to defend against the charges by arguing that they did not commit the crime. In these situations, people are claiming that they had nothing to do with the crime. In these cases, people are not expected to provide any evidence that they did not commit the crime. This is because our justice system treats a person as innocent until proven guilty. It is the prosecutor's job to prove a person's guilt, not the accused's job to prove the person's innocence.
Nonetheless, people can choose to present evidence of their innocence. This could include presenting evidence of an alibi, for example.
Source: FindLaw.com, "Defending Yourself Against a Criminal Charge," accessed on July 19, 2015
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