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").
Jacksonville Beach, also referred to locally as "Jax Beach", is a city to the east of Jacksonville, Florida. The current mayor is Fland Sharp. When the majority of communities in Duval County consolidated with Jacksonville in 1968, Jacksonville Beach, along with Neptune Beach, Atlantic Beach, and Baldwin, Florida, remained quasi-independent. Like the other towns within Duval County that are not part of Jacksonville, it maintains its own municipal government but its residents vote in the Jacksonville mayoral and city council elections. The population was 20,990 at the 2000 census. As of 2005, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 21,770, giving the city a population density of 2,827/mi² (1,094/km²). Although the French Huguenots led by Captain Jean Ribault laid claim to the First Coast in 1562, it was the Spanish who first settled the Jacksonville Beach area, establishing missions from Mayport to St. Augustine. The Spanish ceded East Florida to the English by treaty in 1763 only to regain control twenty years later. In 1821 the Spanish ceded Florida to the United States of America. The Jacksonville Beaches area has been inhabited since at least 1837 when Mayport was made a port, but it was not until 1883 that the Jacksonville and Atlantic Railroad established "Ruby Beach" in modern-day Jacksonville Beach. The settlement was renamed "Pablo Beach" three years later, and was incorporated as a town in 1907. The name was changed to "Jacksonville Beach" in 1925. Jacksonville Beach is the largest town in the Jacksonville Beaches community. It is the eastern terminus of U.S. Route 90, which ends at an intersections with State Road A1A three blocks from the Atlantic Ocean.