The Role of an Attorney in Culpeper Robbery Cases

Robbery in Culpeper is different from theft in that robbery has the added element of the threat of force, use of force, or use of a deadly weapon. It is these elements which make robbery such as serious offense thereby making it imperative a Culpeper robbery lawyer is contacted.

Often an attorney may be able to reach a plea deal in situations where the evidence is overwhelming against them and the facts are particularly bad, such that there are injuries to the alleged victim or some other kind of negative factor that would cause a judge or jury to sentence more harshly. Also, they may encourage a plea deal in a situation where there are flaws in the evidence that is not enough to end up guilty if taken to trial, but enough to make the prosecutor reduce it to a misdemeanor charge.

These are all times when an attorney might advise the client to take a plea offer, but it depends on a case by case analysis and whether or not the specific situation would benefit the client to take a plea offer as opposed to going to trial.

For this reason, it is very important for a person to contact a lawyer right away to ensure that they receive proper legal guidance to navigate their case and to act in their best interest. The role of an attorney in Culpeper robbery cases is immensely helpful.

Information to Have Available

When a person contacts a lawyer about robbery charges, they should have information available, including any kind of pertinent background information, criminal record information, and any information about the situation leading up to the robbery charge incident. They should also have anything that they remember from the incident, perhaps a statement, details about witnesses, anything the police said to them or they said to the police, any other individuals involved and their backgrounds, anything that could be used as mitigating evidence, any coercion, and any situation where an individual did not say in order to credit a threatening behavior.

At that point, it will be helpful for a person to discuss it with their attorney so they can be prepared to look for flaws in the prosecutor’s case and exploit them and support them by evidence. Therefore, an individual should have any information available that they can find when speaking with their attorney. They should also be prepared to answer questions about their actions honestly and openly that are going to be hard to talk with their attorney about.

Negotiation

An attorney can negotiate a robbery charge down to a theft charge, either prior to a preliminary hearing or prior to the trial, when the attorney can point out facts that are favorable to the prosecution or to the conviction of a defendant, or there is some kind of mitigating factor that would cause a commonwealth attorney to make an exception and reduce the charge to something less like a misdemeanor.

For example, in cases where there is perhaps something wrong with the evidence, but not enough so that the person will not be convicted, a prosecutor might offer a lesser offense in exchange for a guilty plea. In addition, in situations where somebody is a first offender or caught up in a situation where they want the primary perpetrator, the prosecutor might show leniency in exchange for testimony against other co-defendants or in exchange for community service or some other type of therapy program that would deter the person from this type of behavior in the future.

Benefits of Experience

A lawyer might be able to leverage his or her experience when attempting to gain an advantage over the prosecution by looking at the evidence and filing motions to exclude or suppress evidence that was gained in violation of a person’s constitutional rights. Somebody who has experience can know exactly how to argue these motions to get a favorable outcome and what legal arguments are going to be heard and understood by that judge.

Additionally, an attorney with experience can leverage that experience to determine what is going to play out at trial against the prosecutor. If an attorney has been in this situation before and through similar trials in front of a specific judge or with a specific officer or business, the attorney can reasonably expect a certain outcome. Instead of wasting time at trial,  the attorney can make a deal and potentially get that information into some kind of pre-agreement that would help the individual reach a more favorable outcome.