How does a criminal defense lawyer defend someone against a burglary charge in Destin Florida?

Even when someone seems to have little or no defense against a criminal charge, Destin criminal defense attorneys are capable of making certain cases go away entirely or negotiating a better plea deal based on gaps in the state’s case. There are many steps between an arrest and a conviction, and an experienced criminal lawyer knows how to advocate aggressively for their clients at each of these crucial times. An incident is Okaloosa County demonstrates how two suspects can appear to be very guilty, yet an attorney can still create a winning defense strategy.

Two suspects caught in Destin after a possible burglary

The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office has reported that two suspects have been apprehended after they allegedly burglarized two vacation homes and tried to get away in a stolen car.

The 27 year old male and 33 year old female perpetrators were spotted by local police on Mesa Road in Destin before they tried to drive away and ended up driving into a fence at a dead end nearby on Sandalwood Drive. The female suspect had apparently been working at the properties where she had access to rooms through electronic key codes. Two families staying in the rental properties reported missing items and unusual credit card activity without any signs of forced entry. One of the victims woke up in the middle of the night and believes that they saw a man in their apartment briefly before he ran out and got into a getaway vehicle. Law enforcement believes that all of the thefts happened at night while the victims were asleep.

Defending against theft

Theft crimes are common in the state of Florida, and many defendants are never formally sentenced or convicted for a number of different reasons. The state needs to provide evidence and witnesses to confirm that the crime took place and identify the items that were stolen along other factors that help prove the elements of the crime. Something as simple as a crucial witness not appearing in court on the trial date can be fatal to the state’s case.

Relevant evidence and the burden of proof

A case such as the one above will rely on a combination of circumstantial evidence and direct proof of guilt. This is because no one actually can actually place the suspects at the scene of the crime and identify them, but it seems likely that they committed the crime based on a number of other factors. This means that the state is essentially going to have to argue that these two defendants must be responsible based on factors that only imply their guilt such as having access to the rooms where the stolen items were present. Because the burden of proof in a criminal case is for the state to prove each element of a crime beyond all reasonable doubt, Destin criminal defense attorneys know how to make a prosecutor work hard for these kinds of convictions.

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