Discussing Criminal Attorney Services

How To Address Charges Of Process Crimes

5 October 2022

Joshua Alexander

When people think about criminal legal defense work, they often picture an attorney defending their client against some claim of wrongdoing against another person. However, prosecutors can also bring charges for offenses against the system. At a legal office for criminals, these are often called process crimes. These offenses include charges like obstruction of justice and lying under oath.

Notably, a person might face process crime allegations even if they did nothing else. This can surprise defendants. How would you respond to such claims? An attorney will usually want you to confront the allegations in these four ways.

Do Not Feed the Prosecution

More than anything, you don't want to feed into the prosecution's case. If a cop says you're obstructing justice and hasn't charged you, that's a signal that it's time to invoke your right to remain silent and to have a lawyer present. Your goal is to not give the state anything to support the current charges or tack on new ones.

Folks who've been charged with process offenses should seek counsel immediately. Prosecutors rarely bring these charges unless they mean business, especially if they're bringing charges against people who aren't the primary defendants. Remember, prosecutors love to use process crime charges as leverage to get people to testify against others.

Avoid Destroying Evidence

This can be tricky if you didn't know that what you were destroying was evidence. However, once you know a prosecutor is interested in something, the big thing to do is to preserve it. If you're worried about your ability to preserve the evidence, contact an attorney and request a consultation. Tell them your situation so you can ask what you ought to do.

Do Not Talk to Others

Your focus should be on your criminal defense efforts. Talking to anyone who isn't your attorney about the charges is just a bad idea. Even if you think the person you're talking to couldn't have any relationship to the case, you never know how a prosecutor might interpret the decision or the conversation. Assume the police are listening or at least checking who you've called.

If you need to talk about the case, discuss it with your lawyer. If there is some credible reason you need to talk to another person about it, let your attorney contact them and have the conversation for you.

Stay Calm

Freaking out is when people make criminal defense mistakes. Stay calm. Make every effort to follow the advice of counsel.

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