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").
Jasper is a city in Dubois County, Indiana, United States. The population was 12,100 at the 2000 census. The city has been the county seat of Dubois County, since 1830, succeeding Portersville. In 1970, the school system of Ireland, a hamlet west of Jasper along State Route 56, was consolidated into that of Jasper . On November 4, 2007, Dubois County returned to the Eastern Time Zone, after having moved to the Central Time Zone the previous year. The land uses are mainly agriculture. Jasper's most famous resident is Major League Baseball player Scott Rolen of the Cincinnati Reds. Rolen has played in MLB since 1996, and selected to MLB All-Star Team as a third baseman numerous times. Rolen also won National League Rookie of the Year in 1997 and has won several National League Gold Gloves at third base. Supercentenarian Minnie Kearby, once the oldest resident of Indiana, was also one of Jasper's best-known residents; born in Ireland, Indiana, on April 14, 1893, she moved to a Jasper care facility in November 2004. She died the following winter. It is also the hometown of William J. Schroeder, who lived the longest on a Jarvik-7: 620 days. The current Roman Catholic Archbishop of Indianapolis, Daniel M. Buechlein, O.S.B. , also hails from Jasper. The town of Jasper is a regional center in southwestern Indiana, noted for its heavily German Catholic ancestral roots. Jasper has often been called the "Wood Capital of the World", boasting a very large number of furniture companies. It has an unemployment rate that hovers around 2.5 percent, making it one of the lowest in the state. Jasper is also home to the Southern Indiana Education Service Center (SIEC) and to a satellite campus of Vincennes University, as well as the headquarters of Buehler Foods. The Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame, which honors players and others associated with the national pastime who were born or lived in Indiana, is located in Jasper. In 2005, Jasper was ranked in the ten best places to live in the U.S. by Relocate America, a national realty relocation firm, which consults and helps clients find desirable places across the country to live. Jasper was previously ranked in the top 25 in Norman Crampton's 1992 book 100 Best Small Towns in America. Jasper also boasts the only municipally supported Arts Council in the state of Indiana and one of a few nationwide; it is part of city government and is supported by the city for its citizens in the same vein as its park board or its street department. The city of Jasper and the Jasper Community Arts Commission have won the Governor's Arts Award twice, once in 1987 and again in 2007, and it is the only group to have garnered this award twice.