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").
Pellston is a village in Emmet County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 771 at the 2000 census. The village is the home of Pellston Regional Airport. Its motto is "Icebox of the Nation"; Pellston recorded the state of Michigan's record low temperature, a frigid -53°F. in 1933, and every winter is regularly called out in national weather reports, along with towns like Big Piney, Wyoming, Fraser, Colorado and International Falls, Minnesota, as one of the coldest spots in the nation. The village is on the boundary between Maple River Township and McKinley Township on United States Highway 31. Interstate 75 is about 10 miles (16.1 km) east of Pellston. Mackinaw City and the Mackinac Bridge is approximately 18 miles (29 km) north and Petoskey is about 20 miles (32.2 km) southwest of the village. The University of Michigan Biological Station is on nearby Douglas Lake.