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").
Fairfield is a city located in the northeastern portion of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California, USA. It is approximately 36 miles (58 km) from both the city of San Francisco and the city of Sacramento, approximately 31 miles (50 km) from Oakland, less than 18 miles (29 km) from Napa Valley, 16 miles from the Carquinez Bridge, and 13 miles from the Benicia Bridge. Fairfield was founded in 1859 by clippership captain Robert H. Waterman, and named after his former hometown of Fairfield, Connecticut. It is the home of Travis Air Force Base and the Jelly Belly jelly bean factory, and has a population of almost 107,000; slightly less than Vallejo, which is the Bay Area's ninth-largest city. It shares a border with its sister city, Suisun City. Other nearby cities include Vacaville, Benicia, Napa and Vallejo. Fairfield is the county seat of Solano County.