Sex Crimes Attorney in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Representing Someone Accused of Criminal Sexual Conduct

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There are many challenges. It is the most horrific and emotional accusation that can be made, and people are a mess. Sometimes they’re a mess because they – and my clients are a mess. Sometimes they’re a mess because they did something wrong and they are overcome with guilt and the desire to make this right, but see if there’s a way to stay out of prison for the rest of their life, and really, with my clients who have done something wrong, I’ve seen that they are more overwhelmingly contrite and realize they’ve done something wrong than they are trying to save themselves from the consequences. It’s the wife or the family that really has that concern.

But the flipside of that is, people who are falsely accused are so devastated and reduced to – just overcome by anxiety and disbelief that they cannot function, and so helping people through this worst moment in their life, this moment that is tantamount, really, to death, divorce, cancer diagnoses, this is the worst moment in peoples’ lives, and that’s a challenge, but I find that really the biggest challenge is that when we get to trial on these cases – and generally, I get to trial on cases where I am convinced the person is innocent and there is a strong defense – the biggest challenge is, the jury comes in and we know that they are supposed to presume all defendants innocent, but none of us do. When we hear the accusation of child molesting or when we hear the accusation of rape, there is an overwhelming human reaction to just want to lock the person up and be convinced that he must be guilty or this accusation wouldn’t be made, and that’s a very difficult try – I’ve had some incredibly strong defense cases that I shouldn’t have to worry at all about winning, but I worry myself to death in every one of those because once this accusation is made, there is almost a presumption of guilt that is stronger than in any other area of the law and any other accusation.

Minneapolis criminal defense attorney Kevin Short discusses the challenge of representing someone alleged to have committed a sex crime.

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