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").
Timberon is a census-designated place (CDP) in Otero County, New Mexico and is within the Sacramento Mountains at the southern edge of the Lincoln National Forest, directly north of the Fort Bliss Military Reservation. The population was 309 at the 2000 census. Timberon has a 9-hole golf course, as well as a lodge, a pool, a church, an airstrip and a volunteer fire department. The residents consider it a retirement and resort community.