NEGOTIATED AGREEMENT PRESERVES NORTH CAROLINA FAMILY

RELEASED: Nov. 30, 2010

RALEIGH, NC – Raleigh criminal lawyer Patrick Roberts recently defended a single mother against a felony child abuse charge. In aggressively fighting to protect the rights of the accused, Mr. Roberts was able to preserve her family by negotiating with the prosecutor to arrange supervised visitation with the child.

In addition to the negotiated visitation, Mr. Roberts worked out an agreement where the mother was not convicted of child abuse and instead received a Prayer for Judgment Continued. A “Prayer for Judgment Continued” is unique to North Carolina criminal law and it means that, instead of a conviction, a judge is not required to enter final judgment on the matter.

Thanks to Mr. Roberts‘ hard work, the mother is now reunited with her sons and able to arrange a family and community support system to reduce the stress of raising her son alone. She has no conviction on her record, preserving her reputation and her ability to seek employment and future education.

It is crucial that a successful criminal lawyer be able to successfully work with the other players in the North Carolina criminal justice system, such as law enforcement, Child Protection Services and the District Attorney’s Office. “It’s important for criminal defense counsel to have good working knowledge of processes that are involved in prosecuting these [child abuse] cases and how to effectively defend them,” Mr. Roberts said.

As a former North Carolina prosecutor, Mr. Roberts has a wealth of knowledge on how prosecutors handle child abuse cases. He prosecuted child abuse and child molestation cases while working for several District Attorney’s Offices and, from that experience, understands how a bad a situation can ruin families. Now, as a Raleigh criminal lawyer, Mr. Roberts uses his experience prosecuting child abuse cases to fight for the rights of those clients accused of child abuse throughout North Carolina.

DISCLAIMER: The cases, facts and outcomes discussed in this press release are illustrative of the matters handled by the firm. Actual case results depend on a variety of factors unique to each case. Not all of the firm’s case results are included on this site. The outcome of a particular case cannot be predicated upon a lawyer’s or law firm’s past results because prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

For more information about the Roberts Marcilliat & Mills PLLC, see his criminal defense website and criminal defense blog. Patrick Roberts is a skilled criminal attorney who defends against sex crime charges, DWI charges and abuse charges, among others in Wake County. To contact criminal lawyer Patrick Roberts, please contact the law firm or call 919-838-6643 for a free consultation. Roberts Marcilliat & Mills PLLC can also be followed on Facebook at facebook.com/nc.criminal.defense.

North Carolina v. J.S.
Accusation: Indecent Exposure
Potentially Facing: 30 days in Jail
Result: Case Dismissed

Roberts Marcilliat & Mills PLLC acted quickly, meeting with the DA’s office to mitigate on behalf of their client, who had no prior criminal history. The Defendant had cooperated fully with the officer. At defense counsel’s prompting, the ADA spoke with his Law Enforcement Officers and determined that Defendant had been through enough already. Dismissed on the first court date.

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