Kidnapping Defense Attorney

The reason you might face a kidnapping charge depends on the elements of the crime. Texas Penal Code Section 20.01 defines “aggravated kidnapping” as involving any of the details below. This is the 1st degree felony with a prison term ranging from 5 to 99 years.

Abduction

When an individual is held against their will and the criminal has no intention of releasing them, it is considered an abduction. They must also use or threaten deadly force against them as part of the crime. It also involves hiding the individual somewhere they cannot be found.

Restraint

Attempts to restrain people without consent include deception, force, and intimidation to hold them against their will. It involves restricting an individual’s freedom without their permission by confining them.

Additionally, it involves restricting their freedom by moving them without their consent to different places. If the alleged victim is under 14 years old and their parent or guardian did not consent to the move, you may face kidnapping charges.

Your defense strategy is more important than proving you are innocent. You are innocent until the prosecution proves you are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Nevertheless, many people charged with crimes believe that the system is already against them.

Therefore, they agree to plea bargains or plea deals without thinking about the consequences. As soon as you enter into a plea deal, you have a criminal record that will affect you in many ways.

A prosecutor must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you committed every element associated with the kidnapping offense during your trial. A judge or jury may reduce or dismiss the allegations against you if they are in doubt. To fight false allegations, you must immediately contact an experienced kidnapping lawyer following an investigation.

Your Houston kidnapping lawyer will develop a strategy to prove you are innocent of the crime you are facing. One of the ways the attorney will fight the case is by proving the crime was an innocent mistake.

This usually involves divorced spouses and their custody arrangements. It is possible that one parent did not fully comprehend the custody agreement. Your attorney can further prove why it was not understandable and why you made the honest mistake.

If you face charges and require legal representation, contact a kidnapping attorney in Houston immediately. A kidnapping conviction can be devastating in your personal or professional life.

Your future is at stake, so contact a Houston kidnapping attorney today.

Have you or a loved one been arrested for kidnapping in the State of Texas? If so, you may be experiencing a lot of stress and anxiety about the road ahead. Each year in Texas, there are 2,666 alleged crimes committed per 100,000 people.

You may be unfamiliar with the criminal justice system. This makes it crucial to stay calm and hire an attorney. A kidnapping defense attorney in Houston can help you navigate the criminal courts.

Read on to learn all about the advantages of hiring a Houston kidnapping defense attorney today!

A defense attorney will have the training and knowledge in criminal law. This is the knowledge that the average person does not have. Competent legal representation is essential to giving you a fair shake in the criminal court system.

Becoming a licensed attorney in Texas is not easy, and someone must receive a Juris Doctor degree.

It must come from a school accredited by the American Bar Association and must be approved as a member of the Texas Bar.

Your lawyer should be an alumnus of a law school with a strong reputation in Texas. Before hiring your counsel, speak with them about where they went to law school. Learn about their relevant criminal law training and experience.

There are more than 108,000 attorneys licensed to practice law in Texas. You have many options when hiring an attorney, and you need one that devotes their practice to criminal law.

An attorney practicing criminal law full-time will have a deep knowledge of Texas statutes. These statutes govern kidnapping charges and other serious felonies. This training is crucial because it will impact how they handle your case in and out of court.

Walking into a courtroom in the State of Texas can be a very intimidating experience for you and your loved ones. It can feel this way for many different reasons, and you may not have experience being in the court system.

Even if you have been to court before, you may know that the way TV shows portray it is often very different from reality. A judge in one circuit court may govern their courtroom in stark contrast to what you have seen on television or in a movie.

A Houston attorney who practices in the criminal courts daily will have professional relationships working with prosecutors and being in front of judges. The experience of being in front of a judge regularly or having cases with a set of prosecutors can be advantageous to you.

Remember that your criminal lawyer can never guarantee a result in your case. These professional relationships in criminal law can still help your counsel have more productive communication with these people.

They can also approach being in court with a level of credibility that someone from out of town or outside their everyday practice area will not.

Persuasive negotiation skills are critical to reaching a fair result in your Texas kidnapping case. Your attorney’s combination of criminal law knowledge and persuasiveness skills may help you avoid a harsher penalty.

For example, you have many rights under the Constitution that protect you from unlawful searches, seizures, and self-incrimination by the government. During their review of your case file, a lawyer may see that you made incriminating statements after a violation of the Fifth Amendment by state actors.

Your lawyer can use these facts and law to form the basis of a Motion to Suppress in your case. If that motion is granted, a judge may rule that the State of Texas cannot use all or part of those statements in your kidnapping case.

Depending on the facts and circumstances, this can be a devastating blow to the state’s case. It can also help your lawyer negotiate a more favorable plea deal on your behalf.

Even if there are no motion issues found in the facts of your case, a lawyer can still present a mitigation package to advocate for a more lenient sentence than what the law allows.

One of the most significant advantages of hiring a Houston criminal defense attorney is leveraging their trial experience. You should avoid hiring a law firm that does not have attorneys who have tried criminal cases.

Although going to trial is rare, the defense and prosecution must weigh the strengths and weaknesses of trying a case. If a prosecutor knows that your counsel is a strong trial attorney, this can play into their decision-making.

If your case goes to trial, your attorney must also have credibility in front of a judge or jury. In short, will your counsel present your case reasonably to the fact finder?

When meeting with prospective attorneys for your case, avoid hiring a law firm that doesn’t have trial experience in criminal law.

The Houston kidnapping defense attorney you hire can have a significant impact on the course of your case. This means you should hire a lawyer who makes you feel comfortable and has experience handling charges like yours.

At The Tripodi Law Firm, P.C., attorney John Tripodi provides criminal law state and federal representation. He has more than three decades of handling cases in 20 states. He is a loyal advocate for those charged with crimes at all levels throughout Texas.

Contact Tripodi Law Firm today for a free consultation to discuss your case!