Howard County Rape Lawyer

Any criminal charge is tough to handle and will have lasting effects on your life. However, a rape charge can be even more serious and lead a number of severe penalties. With this in mind, getting the right help from a Howard County rape lawyer can make the process much more bearable. A rape charge can be confusing due to the various degrees and penalties that will affect your case.

A rape charge is a charge that no one should have to fight alone. If you have been charged with rape, it is crucial to contact a sex crimes defense lawyer to help you craft a case.

Aspects of a Howard County Rape Charge

One of the issues with defending a rape case is the emotional difficulty a jury, judge, and prosecutor has with this type of offense. No other offense carries the same inflamed passion as a rape charge.

Law enforcement and Howard County rape attorneys have to be very delicate in the way these issues are addressed because the victim is in a very fragile state. Additionally, if the victim is young and weapons or violence were involved that changes the outcome of the case and makes it much more serious.

Degrees of Rape

There are three degrees of Rape in Maryland that you can be charged with. Each degree is unique and a Howard County rape lawyer can help you understand them. Here are the following degrees:

First Degree Rape

Essentially anything by force, threat of force, without consent, the addition of a dangerous deadly weapon; suffocated, strangled, or inflicted serious physical injury is considered first degree rape. If something caused the injury or put the victim in fear of imminent death. or it was performed while in the commission of a crime, that becomes a first degree rape.

Second Degree Rape

There is rape in the second degree, which is vaginal intercourse by force, threat of force or without consent. There is also a subcategory if the victim is cognitively impaired, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless.

Third Degree Rape

Third Degree Rape is known as statutory rape, which includes the following:

• One party is under 14
• The other party must be less than four years older

Consult with a Howard County Rape Lawyer

An experienced Howard County attorney will know how to properly deal with juries, communicate with prosecutors and judges, challenge the evidence and do whatever needs to be done to prepare the case for trial in an effort to obtain an optimal result.

A lawyer needs to be involved in the beginning of any criminal charge because evidence can get lost, memories fade, and there are things that need to be done at the outset to try to preserve evidence. As an example, video surveillance is often copied over by businesses after a certain period of time. This evidence may be vital to the client’s defense.

If you have been charged with rape, it is important to contact a Howard County rape lawyer immediately to help you build your case.