your criminal defense attorney may interview witnesses to help your case

Can My Criminal Defense Attorney Interview Witnesses?

There are a number of different actions that your criminal defense attorney should be prepared to take immediately after you have been accused. As soon as you contact him or her, this should prompt your criminal defense attorney to spring into action to do everything possible to protect you.

Criminal Defense Attorney’s Responsibilities

Criminal defense attorneys have a responsibility to look into every option and to present it to you and to keep you informed over the duration of your case. If your criminal defense attorney commits malpractice by not giving you the appropriate representation during your initial trial, this could be grounds for an appeal. It is far better to have an experienced and dedicated criminal defense attorney on your side from the moment that you have been accused of a crime because this will give you greater confidence in the management of your case and decrease the chances that mistakes could land you behind bars and fight back with an appeal.

Get Immediate Criminal Defense Help

The sooner you are able to talk to an attorney, the easier it will be to identify whether or not this is the right person to protect you. One thing that your attorney should do as soon as possible is to interview witnesses, including the police. Your lawyer should not take a witness list or a police report at face value. Your criminal defense attorney should instead be committed to tracking down all sources of information that could tell details about your case.

Gathering Information

Identifying the names and contact information for all possible witnesses needs to be completed immediately so that your lawyer has the chance to talk to these people as soon as possible. This will give your criminal defense attorney a better understanding of what these witnesses are likely to say, and whether or not they are truly credible. Both of these pieces of information can be exceptionally helpful in the development of a criminal defense case and can help you figure out what is truly in your best interests as far as developing a comprehensive strategy to keep you out of jail and avoid the negative consequences of conviction.

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Christopher Llinas

J. Christopher Llinas is a Connecticut criminal defense and immigration attorney with over 25 years of legal experience. He is the founder of Iron Chris Criminal Defense & Immigration, based in Middletown, CT. Chris earned his J.D. from Franklin Pierce Law Center (now the University of New Hampshire School of Law) in 1997 and holds a B.A., magna cum laude, in English from Salisbury University. During law school he served as a teaching assistant for Civil Procedure and Constitutional Law, and competed in moot court and trial advocacy programs. He began his legal career as an Assistant Public Defender, defending clients in felony, misdemeanor, and traffic matters. He later served as an Assistant State's Attorney, prosecuting criminal and traffic cases — giving him a firsthand understanding of how the prosecution builds its case. He has also served as a law clerk, legal aid attorney, and in-house corporate counsel before dedicating his practice to criminal defense and immigration. Chris is admitted to practice in Connecticut, Maryland, the U.S. District Court, and the U.S. Court of Appeals. He is a member of the Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), the National College of DUI Defense (NCDD), and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). His practice covers DUI and OUI defense, drug charges, weapons charges, violent crimes, juvenile matters, probation violations, federal criminal defense, and immigration removal proceedings throughout Connecticut.