Accusations of sexual assault are something that are hard to shake off, and if convicted of them, are something that devastates lives. They can have a lasting impact on every aspect of life and are difficult to come back from, emotionally and financially. Once it is part of a criminal record, it is there forever, and restrictions put in place can be long lasting. This makes it important to hire the right sexual assault lawyer , who can protect their accused from what is being suggested. So, this article will examine just what areas of someone’s life can be affected, and so why it is essential to hire a good lawyer as a defence.
Reputation
Reputation can be defined as how someone thinks of another. It is something that can be influenced but not guaranteed to exist between fellow citizens. Reputations are everything. They can only be earned over time. So, once lost, they are hard to win back. The accusation that one person has assaulted another in a sexual way is one that is met with disgust. It is therefore going to win more enemies than friends, if any friends, only those closest. So, to restore that reputation, and not have it tarnished, is something that is worth fighting for. To clear someone’s name in court is the best way to do it. Sexual assault lawyers are specialists in this area and will know how to guide a witness to the truth. They will know about how consent works and what may blur its meaning.
So, not to become a social outcast , individuals will want to do everything to protect their reputation and hire lawyers who can help them to do that. Lawyers who know about police procedure, how the court systems work, and how juries who make the decisions on guilt operate and think.
Job
A job can be difficult to come by anyway in a competitive world and there is no easier way to end up with a “no” than to have something criminal proven against a person, let alone something that is of a sexual nature and so can perceived to be a potential risk to the welfare of staff, depending on their gender. So, to remain competitive in the job market, it is essential that you do not end up in jail. This will invariably come with much publicity. Employers, because of social media and websites full of information, are becoming masters in finding out all there is to find out about potential employees. Believe it, if there is anything that you want to hide, it may not remain hidden for long in a digital world.
Income
Savings only last so long, so it is important to have a means of earning a regular income. This makes it necessary to have a regular job that pays well. One that pays the bills. The stigma attached to a sexual assault can already mean that someone will be on their own, and so it is more important that they have an income that is sufficient to support them with regards to affording all the bills. These will be bills that were perhaps previously halved or shared. The cost of hiring a good lawyer will pay for itself many times over, over a lifetime, when a proven sexual offence can potentially take away income. Someone found guilty will take a long time to get back onto their feet financially, and probably never end up earning the same levels of income as they did before. Financial stability is something that is built up over many years of earning and is only maintained through continually earning to keep savings topped up.
In summary, there is a lot to lose should a case of sexual assaulted be proven. Very often they can be finely balanced cases, where it is one party’s word against the other and so rely heavily on a lawyer’s ability to tip the thinking of the jury one way or the other. It will be a case of discrediting a witness and emphasising how the accused is of previously good character with no reason for anyone to think them capable of such a thing. In addition, lawyers will know if police procedure has been correctly followed in gathering the evidence, and whether there is reason to think that forensic evidence might have been contaminated. These are all things that can mean the difference between proving innocence or certain conviction. So, hiring the best lawyer that someone can afford really is the only sensible option with cases of sexual assault.
