Being charged with a crime is like having the proverbial albatross hung around your neck. The pressure on judges and juries to convict a person accused of a crime is overwhelming. People who know nothing about you, and some who do will assume “you did it” and demand that you be severely punished.

The Founders of this Nation were acquainted with the willingness of people to assume the worst about a person. That is why they insisted on constitutional protection for the presumption of innocence and required that all criminal accusations be established by proof beyond a reasonable doubt. These constitutional imperatives serve as constant reminders that we should never assume a person is guilty, and in all cases give the benefit of the doubt. But the people you will encounter in “the system,” the police, the prosecutors, the probation officers, even the judges and juries, will know nothing about you except that you are accused of a crime. They will not know you to be a hard working employee, responsible businessperson, loving parent and spouse or struggling young student. They may technically “presume” you are innocent because they are required to, but they will practically “assume” that you are guilty.

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers has a saying: A Criminal Defense lawyer is “Liberty’s Last Champion.” The American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section has promulgated Professional Standards for lawyers defending criminal cases. You can read those standards by clicking here. Also, the Louisiana Public Defender Board has published Performance Standards for Criminal Defense Representation and you can read those standard by clicking here.

Click on these links to see how we approach the defense of criminal charges.

• 1. Protect your rights during any pre-arrest investigation. . .

  • The best defense is usually a positive and aggressive one. It takes time to build that kind of defense. That’s why it’s important to retain counsel as soon as you are accused of a crime. The sooner you hire a competent criminal defense lawyer, the better your chances of successfully defending yourself.

    If you have not been formally charged with a crime, we will contact the investigating agency and try to learn the nature of the investigation. If we decide to cooperate with the investigator and submit to an interrogation, we will be with you. If you are called before a grand jury we will be available to consult with you outside the grand jury room.

    At the same time we will likely meet with my investigator and initiate our own defense investigation. Early preservation of witness statements and physical evidence can often be crucial. Clients who don’t retain counsel when they are being investigated often waive important rights or submit to interrogation without a lawyer when it is not advisable to do so. As a result, their honest attempt at cooperation rarely clears them and only helps the investigator corroborate his suspicions.

    On more than one occasion we have successfully prevented clients from being charged where we were retained early in the course of the investigation, In other cases we have been successful in limiting the scope of the offense charged and the client’s ultimate exposure to punishment.

• 2. Conduct an aggressive defense. . .

  • If you have already been charged with some type of offense, we will enroll in the appropriate court and begin fighting on your behalf. We will be with you at all court appearances. Depending upon the seriousness and complexity of the case, there are any number of things that will need to be done right away. In all cases, we will file appropriate pre-trial motions to discover as much as possible about the prosecution’s case & to sharpen legal and factual issues before trial.

    In serious criminal cases, an aggressive defense investigation is critical. Let’s face it. The government’s investigation is rarely conducted in an attempt to get to the bottom of what actually happened. It is designed to gather evidence to convict a person that someone has accused of a crime or that the investigator thinks is guilty of committing a crime. A defense investigation has to go farther than simply discrediting the prosecution case. We try to get to the bottom of things, preserve critical witness statements and physical evidence that corroborates our client’s defense.

• 3. Fight for you in court. . .

  • We will fight to keep you from being overwhelmed by the system so you can make intelligent and informed decisions about your case. Criminal cases are resolved in one of three ways: dismissal, guilty plea or trial. In appropriate cases we press for outright dismissal of charges. In cases where dismissal is not an attainable goal, we will go to trial, or attempt to negotiate an acceptable plea.

    Fighting an aggressive defense prepares both the case and the client for trial. It also provides an ability to positively influence plea negotiations. The decision to go to trial or accept a plea always remains with you. In cases that cannot be resolved by dismissal or by an acceptable plea, we will go to trial. We will fight for you as vigorously as possible within the bounds of the law. If we are unsuccessful, we will work to mitigate any sentence and appeal where appropriate.

    No lawyer can promise victory, nor should he. And while I cannot promise victory, I will promise to work hard and do all that can reasonably and ethically be done in your defense. That is the only promise I have ever made to any client. But, it is a promise I can keep, and it is my promise to you.

We will fight to give real meaning to the presumption of innocence while holding the government to its burden of proof and keeping you from being overwhelmed by the system.We will be your Champion.