{"id":584,"date":"2022-12-06T09:30:06","date_gmt":"2022-12-06T17:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.elawrencelaw.com\/blog\/?p=584"},"modified":"2023-05-18T11:43:40","modified_gmt":"2023-05-18T18:43:40","slug":"three-important-choices-criminal-traffic-offense-defendants-must-make","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.elawrencelaw.com\/blog\/three-important-choices-criminal-traffic-offense-defendants-must-make\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Important Choices Criminal Traffic Offense Defendants Must Make"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"criminal<\/figure>
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Have you been charged with a criminal traffic offense? You are not alone, as many people deal with criminal traffic offenses in the state of Maryland every year. However, it isn\u2019t always obvious what the best path forward for you is. What are some of the important decisions that you must make as a defendant in your criminal traffic case?<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Plea or Trial?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As an American citizen, you have the right to a fair trial\nif you elect to do so. However, many criminal traffic offense cases never end\nup making it to the trial stage, as the defendant chooses to take a plea\ninstead. Taking a plea offer can be one way to decrease the severity of your\nsentence or get a better deal than you might be offered otherwise. When you are\ndetermining whether or not to choose a plea or a trial, we will walk you\nthrough the upsides and downsides so that you can feel confident about your\ndecision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judge or Jury?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Next, if you choose to move forward with a trial, you will\nneed to decide if you would prefer a bench trial, trial with just the judge, or\na jury trial, which will use a jury of your peers. Jurors are people from your\nlocal community who will be chosen to hear the case of your criminal traffic\noffense. If you choose a jury trial, the decision must be unanimous amongst all\nthe jurors. If you elect for a bench trial, the outcome will be in the hands of\none judge who you do not get to choose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Testify or Plead the Fifth?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you do move forward with a trial for your criminal\ntraffic offense, you will also need to choose whether or not you would like to\ntestify. As this is a criminal case, you do have the right to remain silent. Additionally,\neverything that you say can be used to prove the plaintiff\u2019s case in court.\nDepending on the specific circumstances of your case, testifying might work for\nor against you. We can help you make a decision that feels right for your\nsituation and the increases your odds of a favorable result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn More About Preparing for a Criminal Traffic Offense Trial from The\nLaw Office of Elizabeth Anu Lawrence <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you or a loved one are concerned about going to court for\nyour criminal traffic offense, choose an experienced firm like the Law Office\nof Elizabeth Anu Lawrence to give you the help you need.  Please give us a call at 443.352.3201. Skype\nand telephone consultation are both available to clients.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you been charged with a criminal traffic offense? You are not alone, as many people deal with criminal traffic offenses in the state of Maryland every year. However, it isn\u2019t always obvious what the best path forward for you is. What are some of the important decisions that you must make as a defendant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elawrencelaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elawrencelaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elawrencelaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elawrencelaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elawrencelaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=584"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.elawrencelaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":589,"href":"https:\/\/www.elawrencelaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584\/revisions\/589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elawrencelaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elawrencelaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elawrencelaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}