Legal Question in Criminal Law in Alabama

Re: criminal law

Whether or not you receive probation in Baldwin County on this kind of charge will depend on several factors. First, of course, is the issue of whether they can prove your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt in the first place. You may have a number of defenses available to a charge like this, depending on the facts and circumstances. If it is a defendable case, you may want to go to trial to try to beat the case completely.

The biggest factors that would affect whether you could receive probation on a charge like this, either after a conviction at trial or as a plea bargain, would be your prior criminal history and the amount of money involved. Baldwin County prosecutes more aggressively than many parts of Alabama, so as a general rule people get more severe sentences there than in other places that treat people more reasonably.

That said, in some cases you may be accepted into the pretrial intervention program (also known as pretrial diversion) if you do not have a prior criminal history and if the facts of your case are not too bad. Whether or not this would be an option would be something to discuss with your attorney. If you successfully complete the pretrial intervention program, then the case would be dismissed without you having a conviction on your record. Of course, if you fail the program, then you get a felony conviction and probably go to prison without the benefit of a trial. Whether or not you should pursue this as an option will depend on the specific facts of your situation.

You absolutely must have an experienced criminal defense attorney representing you in this matter. Both of the charges against you are felonies, each carrying up to ten years in the state penitentiary (and longer if you have prior convictions). If you have not already retained an attorney, please make sure you contact one right away. You cannot represent yourself in a case like this, unless you want to wind up in prison.

Our firm has handled criminal defense cases in Baldwin County for many years, and one of our offices is in Foley (in Baldwin County). If we can be of any assistance to you, please give me a call at our toll free number or send me an email. Good luck to you.