Criminal Charges / Crimes

In general, crime victims do not need their own lawyer when there is a criminal case against the offender. The district attorney (“DA”) represents the state’s interests, which usually also align with the victim’s interests. In other words, the DA is going to want to get criminals off the street to keep society safe and punish those who break the laws. In addition, it’s common that the DA asks the judge to issue a criminal court protection order against the offender to keep him/her away from the victim. Some people do choose to have their own lawyer for the purpose of contacting the DA or being present in court but it’s not common.

Have you been contacted by the DA’s office at all? Usually, their office will reach out to the victim to keep them abreast of the court proceedings, the type of jail sentence or criminal charges that the DA is asking for, and any updates on if and when the victim needs to appear in court. Unlike a civil case that a victim files him/herself where s/he needs to be present for each court date, usually the victim does not need to appear in the criminal case unless there is a hearing where the victim needs to testify or at the sentencing where the victim may read a victim impact statement to the judge. If the DA’s office has not been in contact with you, you may want to call them to ask to speak to the victim advocate about what is going on in this case.