This guest post by Carlos Gamino, a former Wisconsin criminal defense attorney with our firm, addresses some of the most common assault and battery charges we see in our offices.
I can’t even count the number of times someone has called me and said, “I got into a fight at a bar. Am I going to prison?” Usually, I tell the person to relax and give me some details. Every case is different, and what happened in your situation may be completely different from anything you’ve ever seen on television, heard from a friend-of-a-friend, or read about on the Internet.
Your criminal defense lawyer needs all of the details so he can provide you with the best possible representation, so even if you’re in the Milwaukee County Jail awaiting arraignment, you need to have an in-depth conversation with him.
What Your Criminal Defense Attorney Needs to Know
Your lawyer is going to ask you many questions. He’ll want to know about the circumstances leading up to the incident, exactly what happened during the incident, and whether you were arrested and brought to jail right away. He’ll also want to know whether you’ve already spoken to police investigators (if you haven’t, don’t – we’ll get into that later) and if you have, what you’ve told them. Finally, he’ll need to know what charges you’re facing.
Your attorney might come to the jail to have this conversation with you; if you’ve already been released after posting bail, you might have the meeting in a more relaxed setting.
What Your Attorney Can Do for You
No matter when you call your lawyer, he’ll be able to give you short-term and long-term advice. In most cases, even if you’re innocent, he’ll advise you not to talk to police without his presence. That’s because when the police tell you that anything you say can be used against you in court, they really mean it – they’re looking for a confession that you’re the guilty party, and one misunderstood statement can land you in jail.
It’s important to get in touch with a Milwaukee criminal defense lawyer as soon as possible after your arrest. He’ll be able to start protecting your rights (and make sure that everything the police have done up to this point has been legal) as soon as you choose to work with him.
Are you going to prison? Every case is different, but with a hard-fighting, aggressive attorney in your corner, you have a chance at the best possible outcome.
