The Biggest Misconception of the Criminal World
Why is it so hard to believe? If you find out that there was a mysterious growth inside your body and that it was necessary to surgically remove it, you would never ask the surgeon, “So give me an exact amount, what’s this going to cost me?”
As if the doctor, right there with the x-ray in their hand, knows exactly how long the procedure will last, exactly how many complications will come up, and exactly how successful the operation will ultimately be. Why is that?
Nobody has a hard time with the idea that there is no doctor that will know what they’re getting into until they open you up and see what’s really going on. When the procedure is all done, you find out how many surgical tools were used, what kinds of materials, how many hours of assistant surgeons were present, and what kind of specialized machinery had to be utilized to make you better. And you find all this out because it’s all in the medical bill!
Then why do some people think a simple DUI can be assessed the same way? They think that when there’s drinking, driving, and an arrest—that it’s an open and shut case. So how can a lawyer sometimes use his attorney tools to create a “not guilty,” or a “case dismissed” or a “good offer?”
In the world of litigation, the “operation” is conducted with evidence, investigation, Constitutional analysis, motion and law practice, legal strategy, and negotiation skills. Like the surgical tools of a doctor, a lawyer must go deep into the evidence of a case to make sure you get the right diagnosis and then the right treatment. If it’s better for you to go to trial, then you go to trial. But if it’s better to negotiate a good offer, then that’s what you do instead.
Too many people think that a criminal case is only about figuring out what kind of punishment it should be and that’s it. Too many people never ask themselves what their options are.
After getting news that you should go “under the knife” for surgery, we all ask whether it’s even necessary. Or better yet, these days we wonder whether there are any new procedures that can cut down on our risk to complications.
If criminal defense is so cut-and-dry, then what would be the point of having forensic analysts, or experienced investigators, or expert witnesses? The answer is simple, yet hard to grasp for many.
In medicine, there are doctors, and there are surgeons. In criminal defense, you need a “legal” surgeon.
Being arrested or charged with a crime is difficult enough. It complicates your life, your finances, and your own well-being. Make sure you chose the right attorney to diagnose your case so that you don’t just get treatment—but the best possible treatment.
