How Other Parties May Delay Your Criminal Hearing

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If you are facing a criminal trial, your hope is to get the issue resolved as soon as possible so that you can get back to your normal life. Unfortunately, unforeseen circumstances can crop up and delay your trial. In fact, some of these circumstances may not even be of your own doing. For example, events associated with these three parties can easily see your case postponed:

The Court

Some courts have very busy schedules, and this increases the risk of conflicting schedules. An oversight or error on the court clerks, for example, may result in a scheduling conflict where your trial is scheduled to start before another one ends or at the same time with another case. In such a situation, your trial may be postponed if the court prioritizes the other case over yours. Some of the factors the court may consider when prioritizing cases include the respective ages of the cases, attorney schedules, the location of witnesses, and the gravity of the respective cases, among other things.

Your Attorney

There are two main ways in which events associated with your attorney may cause your case to be postponed. First, your case may be postponed if your lawyer has been scheduled to handle more than one case simultaneously. In such a case, the court may postpone your case if your lawyer is the lead counsel in all cases and their client's matters can't be adequately handled without the lead counsel.

Secondly, your case may be postponed if you have to hire a new attorney. This may be the case when you decide to fire the first lawyer, when they excuse themselves from the case or if they are unable to discharge their duties for one reason or another (such as illness). In such a case, the court will grant your attorney some time to get acquainted with the case.

Witnesses

Lastly, the witnesses to your case may also cause delays to your case. For example, your case may be postponed if a key witness suddenly becomes unavailable, for example, if they fall sick or cannot be reached. Note that this is only the case if the witness has a key testimony to the case, and there is no other way the court can get the testimony.

The above complications highlight another benefit of hiring a criminal defense attorney like Steven T. Fox Law Firm if you are facing a criminal charge. The attorney will do their best to see to it that your case has minimal disruptions.

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27 July 2017

Introduction To Legal Defense: Criminal Defense Options

Growing up in a law enforcement family, I learned a lot about how arrests take place, what goes into investigations, and more. That gave me a really unique insight when it comes to criminal defense options and the areas where there may be vulnerabilities or loopholes that can be used in court. I've done a lot of research into the legalities of criminal defense as well, so it's allowed me to merge the two and create a site that offers a comprehensive look at criminal defense options and the court's expectations. It's always best to work with a lawyer, but having an understanding of the basics first will help.