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").
Newellton is a town in northern Tensas Parish in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 1,482 at the 2000 census. Newellton is 65 percent African American. It is just west of the Mississippi River on Lake St. Joseph, an ox-bow lake. Further south toward St. Joseph is Lake Bruin, another ox-bow lake, a part of which is the popular Lake Bruin State Park. The African American trombonist Leon "Pee Wee" Whittaker was born near Newellton. Whittaker is among the honorees of the Delta Music Museum in Ferriday in Concordia Parish. His career took him as far as Canada and Great Britain as well as all along the Mississippi River delta country. Another Newellton native is C.B. Forgotston (born 1945), a lawyer in Hammond and a state government watchdog and political activist. Forgotston graduated from Newellton High School in 1962.