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").
La Honda is a small unincorporated town in San Mateo County in the state of California. It is located in the Santa Cruz Mountains between Silicon Valley and the Pacific coast of California, western United States. The population of the Cuesta La Honda subdivision is approximately 1,500, with a similar number in the surrounding area. It is near the La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve. It is situated on State Route 84 on its downward slope towards the Pacific ocean, that is, on the ocean side of the Coastal Range. The ZIP Code for La Honda is 94020 and the community is located in area code 650. Wired numbers in the La Honda telephone exchange follow the pattern 747-xxxx while wired telephones in and around the Middleton Tract work out of the Los Altos exchange with 94x-xxxx numbers. The U.S. Geological Survey says Lahonda is a historic variant of the modern spelling. The book A Separate Place by Charles Jones describes the people, history and landscape of La Honda.