Role and duties of the criminal defense attorney in Houston, Texas

The Houston defense lawyer’s role in criminal cases is to zealously represent his client within all legal and ethical bounds. The Houston defense attorney is as a defendant's supporter, advocate and counselor. Each and every defendant can have their own legal counsel and it is their constitutional and statutory right to have an advocate on their behalf. This right and privilege of every defendant to have legal counsel applies whether or not he can afford it.

In the American judicial system, a defendant is blameless, until he or she is proven guilty. This is called the presumption of innocence. The Harris country criminal attorney argues for the defendant orally in the court as well as in pleadings, which are researched and crafted legal documents that advocate for the client.

A Houston defense attorney will endorse and battle for the client. They are the client's best and only advocate. The judge and prosecutor are not a defendant’s advocate. The Houston defense lawyer’s intention is to stand for their customer’s wellbeing. The duty might range from collecting favorable evidence, to negotiating bail, to dealing with media attention through press releases or conferences, to requesting a dismissal. One of the initial duties of a criminal defense attorney in Houston, Texas, is to meet with the client and discuss the case and issues. The attorney may have to visit the client in jail because the client may be there awaiting trial without bond or with a high bond he cannot post.

Pleadings preparation is what the Houston lawyer does as part of his work in criminal matters. For example, he may prepare pleadings to lower bail, for discovery, or to dismiss the indictment. Procedurally, copies of these documents are filed with the court and given to the prosecutor. Settlement negotiations is another role. Criminal defense lawyers try to negotiate to get the best possible outcome for the defendant. If the defendant does not want to settle his case, then the case will be set for trial. The Houston criminal attorney may retain experts, gather evidence, prepare witnesses, etc. In the trial of the case, the defense attorneys in Houston will produce evidence and cross examine the witnesses in defending the client.

Most of the time, cases are resolved before trial. If not, then at trial the goal of the defense attorney will be to create some reasonable doubt in the minds of the jurors. Defense lawyers do this in a variety of ways, such as introducing exculpatory evidence to discrediting adverse witnesses. The criminal defense attorneys will put forth every effort to convince a jury that their client is not guilty. These are the various duties and roles of the criminal defense lawyer in Houston and Harris County, Texas.