The consequences of a criminal offense can be severe and life altering. For example, depending upon the severity of an individual’s offense, he/she may be sentenced to an extended period of incarceration. In order to avoid a criminal conviction or to reduce the severity of a defendant’s criminal sentence, it is important for the defense attorney to employ a suitable criminal defense.
There are many different types of criminal defenses that a defense attorney may use. Often, the defense that is selected will depend upon the circumstances surrounding the case and the evidence that is provided by the prosecution. Often, s defense attorney will attempt to convince the jury that his/her client had no role in the crime in question. However, if the evidence strongly indicates otherwise, the defense attorney may seek to employ an affirmative criminal defense, in order to diminish his/her client’s liability. If this is successful, the defendant’s conviction and subsequent sentence is likely to be much less severe.
There are many different types of criminal defenses that can be employed in a criminal case. For example, a defendant may plea insanity. This defense claims that, due to an individual’s mental state, he/she cannot be held responsible for the crime that he/she committed. A defendant may decide to use the coercion and duress defense. Like the insanity defense, this criminal defense is used to reduce an individual’s liability. However, the coercion and duress defense claims that the defendant was forced to take part in the criminal offense. Self-defense is another type of defense frequently used in criminal cases.
