When building a Chantilly armed robbery defense, an attorney with experience in theft with a weapon charges can explain the importance of collecting evidence for trial. The types of evidence that a criminal lawyer might compile when defending a person charged with armed robbery include video, statements, witness testimony, and pictures. Speaking with an attorney about your desired outcome could be beneficial when an attorney presents the aforementioned evidence in court.
A criminal lawyer would begin building Chantilly armed robbery defense by collecting all the evidence that they have seen, gathering any witnesses that they have, including alibi witnesses. They also collect any video and potentially mitigating evidence, people’s fingerprints, and people’s names that were at the scene to figure out whether or not they have any convictions and whether or not their stories are truthful. There are a lot of ways that a defense attorney could start preparing a case, but it begins with gathering as much evidence as possible.
Circumstances where a defense attorney may be able to negotiate an armed robbery charge down to a robbery charge or get the additional charged removed depends on the case. If someone is in a situation where they are facing these two felonies and a robbery charge, and the potential punishment for the robbery may be up to life in prison, a person could plead guilty to that in exchange for dropping the additional three years for possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony charge. They could drop the other charge because they do not think they are able to prove it and they go for the one that they are able to prove, which is robbery.
When a person begins building Chantilly armed robbery defense, they should try to provide their attorney with any information about their case that is available to them. This information includes whatever they remember from the incident, any names of witnesses, any names of nearby businesses, any descriptions of people that they think were nearby but they do not know their names, and anything else that could be helpful. It is going to come down to whom or what is going to be able to be a witness against them. Whatever they could bring to the attorney that may help dispel witness statements against them is something that a defense attorney needs to know about.
A person should consider hiring a criminal lawyer when charged with armed robbery in order to utilize the relationships the attorney has previously built. They can help you begin building Chantilly armed robbery defense while considering possible sentencing and worst outcomes.
Virginia has a bifurcated sentencing process so the judge decides guilt or innocence and the jury decides the person’s sentence. It is rare that a judge says that a jury was wrong in sentencing. A person could go from a situation where they might have gotten ten or 15 years with a judge, but the jury gave the person life in prison.