The very notion of White-Collar Crimes was first introduced in the 30s. Back then, in case a crime was of a non-violent nature, it would be deemed as a White Collar Crime. Hence, if there was no evidence that violence was used in the crime, it would be automatically transformed into a White Collar Crime.
In most cases Federal Government, District Attorneys as well as local prosecutors are handling White-Collar Crimes. These days the definition is slightly different – in the vast majority of situations White-Collar Crimes imply crimes of a non-violent nature – when funds or property were entrusted to the employee. Furthermore, one should remember that embezzlement is the most common White-Collar Crime these days and the defendants in such cases are people who were entrusted with money or real estate property. In most cases we are talking about accountants as well as bookkeepers – individuals who were entrusted with important money issues or some valuable paperwork.
One way or another, White-Collar Crimes are no different from any other crimes and are therefore prosecuted in the very same manner. There are no special rules or regulations here. However, proving that the defendant was actually responsible for the crime in such a case is often quite challenging. The prosecution will need to gather a whole lot of evidence, which would demonstrate that the defendant is actually the person of interest. Nevertheless, the defendant himself may well make things a whole lot worse. One careless statement that may not mean that much right now will eventually help the prosecutors seal the case and convict the defendant in no time. This is one of the numerous reasons why it is so important to find a qualified as well as genuinely experienced legal representative to avoid such problems.
Needless to say, the legal penalties for White-Collar Crimes differ in line with the circumstances of the crime. Still, in case that federal government found that the crime is harsh, a person may well be sentenced to years in state prison. White-Collar Crimes could be deemed as misdemeanors or felonies, depending on the scale of the crime and how serious it is. However, the investigation process in such cases takes a whole lot of time. This means that you will have more time to hire a qualified lawyer and the attorney will have more time to prepare a great legal defense strategy, which will allow you to avoid the most serious legal consequences. Furthermore, in some cases, if you are lucky enough, the lawyer will be able to stop the prosecutors from filing the case to start with.
Once the investigation process is over, the law enforcement officers will go to the judge in order to present all the gathered evidence on the matter. In case the judge finds all the evidence ample and satisfactory, they will issue a warrant for the arrest. Once the warrant will be served, the defendant will be placed into custody and will remain under arrest until a bail is posted.
The arraignment is what follows the arrest. This is basically an initial trial. During that process the defendant will get comprehensive explanation of why they were arrested and what they are charged with. Furthermore, the judge will tell the defendant more about their rights and will then ask the defendant to plead guilty or not guilty. Should the defendant plead not guilty, the process will continue and the trial date will be set up. Furthermore, the judge will set the amount of bail during the arraignment as well.
Depending on whether it is a felony or a misdemeanor crime, there are two ways that the process could go. First of all, if it is a felony, the judge is going to set a date for the preliminary hearing. However, in case it is a misdemeanor, the judge will set the date of pre-trial, beginning the process of discovery.
Regardless of what kind of crime you were charged with, it is best to have a qualified Los Angeles federal criminal attorney throughout the entire process.
No comments:
Post a Comment