Business and Management

The Differences Between Misdemeanors And Felonies

When a person is charged with a crime, it generally falls into one or two categories – a felony or a misdemeanor. The cost of hiring a felony lawyer varies significantly in different areas. Hence,you must be familiar with the felony lawyer cost.

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Being able to have a charge lessened from a felony to a misdemeanor could mean shrinking the amount of required jail time, which is why it is so important to work with a defense lawyer in Colorado who knows the federal criminal system well.

Felony Crimes

Felonies are generally reserved for more serious offenses, and they usually carry a penalty of more than one year of prison time if convicted. Additionally, felony crimes are those that cannot be expunged from a criminal's record. 

The only way a convicted criminal can have a felony crime taken off of his record is by getting a pardon from the governor in whichever state he resides.

Misdemeanor Crimes

On the other hand, misdemeanor crimes are usually those that carry a maximum penalty of less than one year of prison time. That is, even if a defendant is found guilty, the most amount of time he will have to spend incarcerated is one year. 

Because the maximum amount of time a defendant can be sentenced to jail for a misdemeanor crime is only one year, a jury is not usually used for these types of trials. Instead, a judge in a magistrate court will usually handle the sentencing in these cases himself.