Is There a Common Emotional Reaction to Being Charged with a Crime?

Interviewer: What have you learned about people’s behavior and their reaction to being arrested or prosecuted for a crime? What human insights have you gained into the whole legal process?

Fear and Anxiety Are Common Reactions

Paul: I think people naturally feel an enormous amount of worry and fear. People are very fearful; they’re very worried because they don’t know what’s going to happen. No one likes to be accused of misconduct, of doing something bad, so there’s a little bit of shame, a great deal of uneasiness, and fear.

My objective is to really provide sort of a full service practice. I try to really help temper people’s concern and fear as we work through, procedurally work through the case.

Attorney Cramm Works throughout the Case to Address and Allay His Clients Concerns

I may be doing something that to me feels like another day at the office, but to that person it is their life. I think the most important thing to remember as a lawyer is just that. This may be my practice and I may be very comfortable and very at ease with it, but this is my client’s life. I need to keep in mind that clients are concerned well beyond the events of today.

This is their life, and I think clients really need a certain amount of reassurance because they don’t have the experience in and out of some number of similar cases.

Interviewer: What are the most common types of crimes you represent people for?

Statistically, DUI and Possession Cases Far Outweigh the Number of High Level Cases

Paul: I certainly think that just as a matter of pure statistics, there are far more, for example, DUI cases filed every year than capital murder cases. I think there is far more simple possession of marijuana cases filed than there are high level, high volume narcotics conspiracies. As cases become much more serious and much more complex, I think that statistically you see fewer numbers of those types of charges.

Attorney Cramm Treats Every Case with the Same Individualized Care and Attention

I’ve certainly handled plenty of those, but  I know that I will get a lot more calls from people for getting that DUI on the way home from the office party, or a domestic violence charge where they and their significant other got into an argument, it got a little bit out of hand, someone called the police and now we’re facing domestic violence charges.

Or I will have someone who will call and say, “My son or my daughter at college got caught with a half ounce of marijuana at the dorm room. What am I going to do?”

My objective is to treat each of those cases with the same attention that I would treat a narcotics conspiracy case in federal court. You’re going to see a lot more of the lower to mid-level cases, just because those are the ones that are more frequently filed.

Child Pornography Possession and Trafficking Charges Are Considered Serious Cases That Carry Substantial Penalties

Interviewer: Are there crimes that you represent for that people aren’t commonly aware of? Are there any of those kind of cases that don’t typically make it to the courts?

Paul: I have handled a great number of cases involving discovery of child pornography files on someone’s computer following internet traffic to and from a questionable website.  In most of these child pornography cases, these people are dreadfully embarrassed and the sentences for these types of charges in federal court are enormous. This has become a very serious area of practice.

I have also handled several loss-of-life cases from involuntary manslaughter all the way up to premeditated capital murder. Those were just incredibly complicated, incredibly difficult cases that require an enormous amount of time and resources to properly prepare and properly defend.

The More Serious the Charge, the Time and Resources a Case Will Take to Defend

Interviewer: Would you find that those kinds of cases are obviously more detailed and a little bit harder than say just a normal DUI case?

Some Complex Cases Require Incorporating Expert Testimony in the Defense

Paul: Unquestionably they are. These more serious cases you certainly need to reach out to, and the client needs to be aware, they’re going to need to have resources to reach out to various experts. We may need a forensic computer analyst for a case. We may need a pathologist to review the pathology report in a homicide case. We may need a licensed, private investigator to conduct additional investigation in a very serious homicide case.

Attorney Cramm Feels That Complex Cases Are Best Handled by a Team Effort

These very serious cases, they’re a team effort, and I think the client needs to be prepared to help their lawyer assemble the correct team of persons to work on their case, help prep the case and possibly testify at trial about the case.

Call today for a no-cost, no-obligation consultation to discuss your case: (913) 322-3265.  I represent clients accused of DUI, DWI and all state and Federal criminal charges throughout the Kansas City Metro area including the municipalities of Johnson County, Kansas: De Soto, Gardner, Leawood, Lenexa, Merriam, Mission, Olathe, Overland Park, Prairie Village and Shawnee.