Hiring a Gun Attorney in Somerset

The most important thing to do when charged with a gun crime in Somerset County is to hire an attorney. If an individual cannot afford to hire a private attorney, that person should definitely seek out the representation of the public defender’s office so that they have an attorney that is working for them for their case. There are, however, some real benefits in hiring a private attorney versus hiring the public defender’s office.

The public defender’s office has an important purpose in the criminal justice system, but the truth of the matter is that they are often understaffed and overworked. They could be responsible for several cases on the court’s docket all on the same day or during the same week. A private attorney is going to be able to give a person much more individual time and attention to their case. A private attorney also will have a relationship with investigators and other resources that they can recommend that might really benefit the client.

A Somerest County private gun attorney will hopefully have several years of experience and be able to devote a great deal of time and attention to their client’s case.

Investigative Resources

Typically, a private attorney is going to have some professional relationships with investigators who make a living off of investigating on behalf of attorneys in both criminal and civil matters. A really good investigator is going to know how to attempt to find other witnesses. Sometimes in the course of an investigation by the police, the police may speak to one or two witnesses, for example.

With more investigation, it may be determined, for example, that there were four or five witnesses available. Having a private investigator, will allow the defense to seek out those witnesses and that can be a game changer in a defense. Or they may be able to determine if a witness is lying and what their motivation are for lying.

There have been cases where a private investigator was hired and that investigator sought out more witnesses, gathered more information, and just did more investigation than had previously been done by the police. The prosecutor, when provided all of that additional investigation, decided that the defendant had been incorrectly charged, he should not have been charged at all. That is the potential benefit of utilizing an investigator.

Attorney Time, Attention, and Availability

Private attorneys, typically speaking, are just going to have more time and attention to be able to devote to a client. This is really just a matter of two things. One is hopefully that a private attorney is in a situation where they have a lot of experience and have been working for many years as an attorney. By that sheer amount of time, the private attorney should have more experience.

The other issue is the private attorney’s ability to provide that time and attention to the client. The private attorney is not going to have nearly the same case load as a public defender will, because the public defender, no matter how vigorous of an attorney they are, oftentimes is just overworked and understaffed.