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").
Manchester, Maryland, is a small incorporated town in Northeastern Carroll County, Maryland located on the Eastern coast of the United States of America just South of the Pennsylvania State line and North of Baltimore, Maryland. The population was 3,329 at the 2000 census making it the 21st most populous town in Maryland. Manchester was incorporated in 1834 and is the second oldest incorporated area in Carroll County after Westminster, Maryland, which was incorporated in 1818. The town was originally formed as a part of Baltimore County, Maryland, before the creation of Carroll County in 1837. It is governed by an elected mayor and an elected five person town council. Manchester lies in the humid continental climate region, marked by cold and snowy winters but humid and hot summers. This climate is ideal for growing farmed crops in the summer such as sweet corn and squash, leaving much of the outlying area marked with large tracts of farmland. Manchester is a rural commuting town where residents travel to work in the greater Baltimore Metropolitan Area.