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").
Atchison is a city situated along the Missouri River in the eastern part of Atchison County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. The population was 10,232 at the 2000 census, and it was estimated to be 10,154 in the year 2006. It is the county seat and most populous city of Atchison County. The city is named in honor of David Rice Atchison, United States senator from Missouri, and was the original eastern terminus of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad. Atchison was the birthplace of aviatrix Amelia Earhart: the Amelia Earhart Festival held each July annually attracts an estimated 30,000–50,000 people. The festival includes a downtown craft fair, an antique airplane fly-in and airshow, and one of the largest fireworks displays in the Midwest, which takes place over the Missouri River. Atchison is also the home of Benedictine College, a small Catholic liberal-arts college. Atchison is often called one of the most haunted places in America, due to the city's ghost-story heritage, featured in the 1997 book, "Haunted Kansas," written by Lisa Hefner Heitz, and published by University Press of Kansas.