What are my rights if I have been accused of a crime?
♫ Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011“Those accused of crimes have a number of rights guaranteed by the US Constitution. These rights include: the right to remain silent in order to avoid self-incrimination, the right to competent legal representation, the right to reasonable bail, right to a fair and public trial, right to be informed of the charges against you, the right to be confronted with the witnesses against you and to gather witnesses of your own, and a number of other rights.
A criminal defendant is also presumed innocent until proven guilty. This means the prosecutor has the burden of proving (beyond a reasonable doubt) you committed the criminal act(s) in question. This also means a defendant does not have to do anything or say anything to prove s/he is innocent.
There are also laws regarding search and seizure which require law enforcement to obtain a search warrant before they are allowed to search a specific place, at a specific time, for specific persons, evidence, contraband, and/or other items. It is important to keep in mind there are some circumstance where police do not need a warrant to search and/or arrest you. ”
