You generally consider yourself a stand up person. For your whole life, you have stayed on the right side of the law. But what happens if someone accuses you of a crime? You know that you didn’t do anything. But in a court of law, even though you are not presumed guilty, you still have to take steps to defend yourself.
How exactly do you do this? Your first step is always going to be to call a lawyer. Second, you should have some experience reading up on specific laws yourself. There are a tremendous number of resources available to you. And third, make sure that you look over your social media profiles.
If you have been accused of a crime, and there is something in your social media profiles that suggests that you were more likely to have committed this crime, then it’s a good idea to scrub all of that data sooner rather than later.
Call a Lawyer
After you’ve been accused of a crime, your first step is always going to be contacting a criminal defense lawyer. You may not know what details you have to present to ensure that you get a fair trial. What might seem like common sense to you may not be appropriate in a court of law.
Because of this, your lawyer is going to be your best friend. They will show you how to prove your innocence beyond any doubt. That puts the burden of proof on the person who is accusing you of this crime.
Read Up on the Law
If you want to learn about the law to help yourself out after you’ve been accused of a crime, there are plenty of resources for you to check out. You can read up on cases that are similar to yours. You can search through digital archives quite easily for any reference material that makes sense in your case.
You can look up the likelihood of you being either convicted or found innocent. Statistics can be very helpful, and reading and researching on your own will make it so that you know what to focus on as you’re defending yourself.
Look Over Your Social Media Profiles
When was the last time you looked at your social media profiles from the perspective of a stranger? If you look like a person who has committed a crime in your social media profile, someone may use that against you.
It’s not necessarily legal to do this, because it’s only going to be information that gets presented accordingly in court that is totally viable. However, the court of public opinion can be brutal, especially if the media gets a hold of some of the comments you have made that are controversial. Because of this, it’s always good to have a sanitized set of online materials, but especially after you’ve been accused of a crime.
