A Minnesota resident who is convicted of a felony could lose the right to vote. It may also be possible to lose the right to own a gun after being convicted of a felony. Some say that the best way to avoid this fate is to not commit a crime. However, there are many ways in which an individual could unknowingly break the law.
For instance, it is a felony to get lost in the woods or for a healthy person to call in sick to work. While a law can be struck down if it is overly vague, that does not always happen. Juries could also choose to make a law obsolete by choosing not to convict those who are charged with a particular offense. However, those who believe in jury nullification may not be given the right to serve on a jury.
In addition to losing a multitude of rights, an individual who is convicted of a felony may be unfairly labeled a bad person. This is because the public has been bombarded by the message that felons are dangerous people who want to hurt them. While this is true in some cases, not everyone who has a felony conviction is evil or a risk to do harm to others.
A criminal defense attorney may assist an individual who has been charged with a felony. Legal counsel may be able to craft a strategy that may maximize the chances of obtaining a favorable outcome in a case. These strategies could include casting doubt on witness testimony or asking that evidence be suppressed because it was not obtained legally.