If you are a student who has been charged with a crime it is extremely important to hire a criminal defense attorney as soon as possible. A conviction for a criminal case can trigger disciplinary proceedings within your school and affect your scholarships. A guilty conviction can also affect your ability to get a higher education, your ability to obtain professional licensing, and your ability to obtain a favorable job in the future.
There are many things that can be done to help students
Whether you have been charged with a battery after a fight, drug possession, open container, or theft, or a number of other charges, you may qualify for a pretrial intervention program that can result in all charges being dismissed by the State Attorney’s Office. If charges are dismissed, then, assuming you are otherwise eligible, the criminal record can be expunged.
We can fight to keep you from going to jail
If you are a student, there are many things that a good defense attorney can do to keep you from going to jail and to get you the best possible deal. Some of the things we accomplish for our clients:
-Hire an investigator who will talk to witnesses, find surveillance video, and gather exculpatory evidence
-Present mitigating evidence to the prosecutor and/or the court, such as the fact that you have little to no criminal history, are currently in school, have suffered hardships in life, etc.
-Look for constitutional problems with the case or illegal actions on the part of the police that can result in evidence being suppressed and the case getting dropped.
-Fight for a withhold of adjudication that will avoid you being found guilty of the charge and may open the possibility of later having the case sealed from public view.
Waive your presence at court dates
A criminal defense attorney in Sarasota and Manatee Counties has the ability to waive your appearance so that you do not have to go to the vast majority of the court dates for your criminal case. Instead of you going, an attorney from our law firm will go to court on your behalf. This means that instead of having to take time off of school (or travel back to the Sarasota/Bradenton area if you live or attend school out of the area) you can focus on your studies and not worry about having to go to court. We will keep you updated as the case progresses.
For more information about our criminal defense attorneys and how they can help you if you have been accused of a crime, please visit the Soler & Simon homepage.