Maryland Criminal Defense Lawyers

The State has two separate but closely related agencies handling criminal cases (1) Police which investigate crimes and may bring certain charges on their own and (2) the State's Attorney's Office which can issue charges and will prosecute the charges in Court. Both agencies are designed to prosecute you.

Whether or not to cooperate and talk with either the police department or the State's Attorney's Office is a very complicated matter and should not be attempted without legal representation. You may well be told that by cooperating you can eliminate their suspicion of you and avoid or terminate the charges; however, in the vast majority of cases they will use what you say to (1) cement their allegations against you or (2) to discover what defenses you have a find a basis to attack or discredit those defenses.

Obtaining legal counsel as early in the proceedings as possible is your best defense. By talking to an attorney who is on your side you can protect and preserve your evidence to help make sure you can establish your innocence. If you can establish your innocence, an attorney may be able to prevent you from being charged in the first place. So selecting an attorney at the first indication that you are or may become a suspect is to your advantage.

Experienced attorneys can demonstrate the weaknesses of the State's case at trial and help you to avoid a conviction both by attacking the police evidence and by presenting conflicting evidence to establish your innocence. In addition if you are convicted of a crime, an experienced attorney can help you receive the best sentence or probation.

The key to effective representation is a criminal case, or any other case, is a frank honest presentation to your attorney of all of the facts. Then the experienced lawyer can craft an defense that addresses the elements of the crime charged, your defenses to those charges, mitigating factors that can reduce the charges or exonerate you of wrong doing and the best way to handle the sentencing should you be convicted.

Attorneys at Bell, Ragland & Gauges, P.A. never take any one's criminal case as "routine" we research the law, probe the facts and craft and defense that is specific to the facts and circumstances of your case.

Once you are ready, please contact us for more information about how our Maryland criminal defense lawyers can help We can be reached at 410 267 5944 or via the web through our online form.