Defense Strategies for Murder Charges
Our Award-Winning Violent Crimes Attorney Can Fight for You
If you’ve been charged with murder, it’s imperative that you seek legal representation immediately. Violent crimes, including murder and manslaughter, are judged very seriously by the California criminal justice system. Without an aggressive legal defense strategy, you may find yourself facing severe felony penalties.
Defense strategies typically fall into the following categories:
- Proving the defendant is innocent of the crime
- Proving the defendant didn’t commit first-degree murder
- Proving the defendant was acting in self-defense
- Proving the defendant was not mentally sound
Contact Second Chances Law Group if you require legal representation. Ourviolent crimes lawyer offers compassionate legal counsel and fierce courtroom representation. Our firm strongly believes in diligently defending our clients without judgement.
Contact Second Chances Law Groupat (626) 827-7222 if you require a violent crimes attorney.
California Three Strikes Law
The purpose of California’s Three Strikes Law is to prevent offenders from committing additional felony crimes. If a person has three convictions on their criminal record, they may face mandatory life imprisonment. Many violent crimes count as strikes, including murder, so it’s important to retain the services of a violent crimes attorney if you want to avoid a third conviction.
A violent crimes attorney can help you by:
- Investigating the circumstances of your case
- Evaluating and presenting relevant evidence
- Successfully representing your case so you receive a “not guilty” verdict
- Convincing a district attorney to remove a previous strike from your record
- Pushing to reduce your felony to a misdemeanor
Defense Strategies
Self-Defense
For this defense strategy, your legal team needs to prove that the murder was consequential to the force you utilized in self-defense. Homicide might be considered legally justifiable if it prevented physical or sexual harm to yourself or another victim. However, the court must be convinced beyond all reasonable doubt that the murdered party intended to commit violence against you or another person. Also, the force you utilized must be in proportion to the threat you faced.
This defense strategy hinges on the defendant not being responsible for the initiation of the conflict.
Accidental Murder
An accidental killing is only considered murder if it’s the result of criminal activity. While this defense strategy may alleviate the threat of first-degree and second-degree murder convictions, it doesn’t necessarily protect defendants from being convicted of manslaughter. If your legal team is pushing for this defense strategy, they need to prove that you weren’t committing a criminal act and didn’t intentionally use excessive force that exceeds reasonable argument.
Insanity Defense
This is a common defense strategy for challenging first-degree murder charges, but it’s also one of the most difficult to prove in court. For this strategy to succeed, a legal team must prove the defendant is unable to distinguish between right and wrong and acted on an uncontrollable impulse.
Schedule a Consultation
Your defense strategy is highly dependent on your personal circumstances and charges. Contact Second Chances Law Group if you’re facing a murder conviction in California. Our violent crimes lawyer is knowledgeable about the California legal system and is skilled in building defense strategies.
We offer 24/7 legal counsel. Contact our violent crimes attorney at (626) 827-7222 to schedule your free consultation.