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").
Bonfield is a village in Kankakee County, Illinois, United States. Bonfield's population was 364 at the 2000 census. It is included in the Kankakee-Bradley, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. Although founded by quarryman Thomas Verkler, the village was named after Thomas Bonfield, an attorney for the Kankakee & Seneca Railroad Company, which established a depot in the village. A name was needed for this depot, someone suggested "Bonfield", and that's what stuck. The railroad has long since disappeared into history but it had been on Johnson Street. Old railroad spikes and ties might still be found around the limestone quarry. The depot was moved about a mile and a half south of the village and converted to a barn, which remains today (12/31/2007). The town originally had a high school, but it burned down in the early 1930s. Students then went to Herscher High School in Herscher, Illinois.