Today is

By: Uchenna Ani-okoye

Criminal Defence and False Accusations

If you have been wrongly accused of committing a sex crime or any other serious criminal act, the actions that you take during the first week or so after being charged will determine whether or not you will get a ruling in your favour. Once the shock finally starts to wear out, it’s up to you to take the following essential steps.

- No matter how innocent of the crime you know you are, those in authority will believe you to be otherwise, and therefore, it’s very important that you take the charges seriously. Don’t delude yourself into thinking that just because you know you didn’t commit the crime, that you will be found innocent, simply because the system doesn’t work like that. Make sure you are thinking straight and understand the consequences that you could face if you were to get convicted for the offence.

- Make sure you don’t talk about the incident to anyone, including the authorities, because you speak to a lawyer. Because there is a good chance that your words may be used against you during trial.

- Make sure you have the best lawyer that you can afford. Sex crimes tend to have an excessively high conviction rate, so it’s very important that you have the best representation that you can afford. Money is required for all of this. Be prepared to devise ways of putting money together to hire the best possible defence lawyer for your situation. If you try to hire a cheap lawyer or defend yourself, then there is a good chance that you will lose, which will result in you spending time in jail.

- Write down all the names of the witnesses, evident, dates and times that are relevant to your defence, as soon as possible. The more time you leave it for, the harder it will be to remember.