Law Office of Ryan J. Matthews - Criminal Proceedings

THE CRIMINAL PROCESS

What to do following an arrest

After being arrested, especially if this is your first time dealing with the police and criminal justice system in a serious way, you are likely to feel alone, scared and helpless. The government knows this and will try to take advantage of it. You need to try to keep your cool and act quickly and calmly in order to take the steps needed to protect your rights and give yourself the best chance at successfully challenging the charges against you. By far the most important thing you can do at this stage of the case is for you or a loved one to contact an experienced criminal defense attorney like me as soon as possible.

It is important to act quickly after your arrest so that my team and I can have time to assess your case and be prepared to appear at your arraignment and bail hearing. These events will occur at or around the same time, no more than 72 hours after your arrest and booking, but often much sooner. You absolutely want a skilled, experienced criminal defense attorney at your side for these vital events that could set the tone for your entire case.

From arrest to trial and all stops in between the experienced team of professionals at the Law Office of Ryan J. Matthews have represented clients charged with all sorts of crimes at every stage of the criminal justice process.

Experienced defense for each step of the legal process

Arraignment

If you are arrested you are entitled to bail under Massachusetts law. Typically, a bail commissioner will set a bail amount at the police station. At the arraignment a judge will have the opportunity to set bail. I will fight to convince a judge that you will return to court to face charges based on the factors most persuasive to judges such as your criminal record, or lack thereof, your ties to the community, and the nature and severity of the charges against you.

As the case against you moves froward there are three thigs that only you can decide. The first is whether to entertain a plea or go to trial. The second is whether the trial is before a judge or a jury. Finally, only you can decide if you want to take the stand and testify in your own defense.

Only you can make those decisions because they are the most important and you are the only one who will have to live with the consequences. I can provide advice, and recommendations but only you can make the decisions that matter most in your case.

Your choice

Plea negotiations

If the matter proceeds, plea negotiations will likely begin between your attorney and the prosecutor. At The Law Office of Ryan J. Matthews, my experienced team has successfully worked out deals for many clients to get their charges dismissed or downgraded to something less serious, such as from a felony to a misdemeanor.

The easiest way to get a decent plea deal is to weaken the governments case.

If the government violates your rights to secure evidence, the court can suppress the evidence so that the government cannot use it against you. The court can exclude any evidence that was illegally obtained by the government by allowing motions to suppress. In many cases, winning a motion to suppress ends the case against you.

Excluding evidence

Trial and Post-Trial

If you decide not to change your plea, I will always be ready to try your case and make the best possible argument for your innocence in the courtroom. We will secure all exculpatory evidence, put on witnesses if we have any and aggressively challenge and question the evidence and witnesses introduced against you by the government. If you are convicted the fight does not end. I can file post-conviction appeals and challenge rulings the trial court made during trial that were wrong.