In a criminal case, the state, through a prosecutor, initiates the suit, while in a civil case the victim brings the suit. Persons convicted of a crime may be incarcerated, fined, or both. Criminal defense attorneys represent clients who have been accused of committing a crime, and defend their rights at each stage of a misdemeanor or felony case -- from an arrest to an appeal after conviction. Criminal defense attorneys may be hired privately or provided by the government (called "public defenders").
Shirley is a town in northeast Van Buren County, Arkansas, United States, along the Middle Fork of the Little Red River. A one-time railroad outpost, the community today is oriented toward agriculture, particularly its cultivation of shiitake mushrooms. The population was 337 at the 2000 census, but can increase 500 more (at 840 people) during the summer months when migrant laborers (mostly Latin American) arrive into Van Buren County during the mushroom harvest.