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").
Racine is an unincorporated community in Newton County, Missouri, United States. It is located along the Frisco RR tracks between Neosho and Seneca, Mo in Lost Creek Valley. Racine is on Route 86 about 6 miles west of Neosho and ten miles south of Joplin and about 5 miles northeast of Seneca and the Oklahoma state line. Some homes, a post office, a fire station, and a couple of businesses are located here. Many of the original settlers who arrived before the Civil War are buried in Burkhardt Cemetery just northeast of town at the junction of what is now known as Juniper and Jasmine Drives. Due to its proximity to many of the back-roads into the "dry state" of Oklahoma, illegal alcohol and low-tax tobacco was bootlegged through this part of Missouri up to the 1960s. There are several churches despite the small size of the town: one Apostolic Church and two Christian churches. The community is part of the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area.