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").
Knightdale is a town in Wake County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 5,958 at the 2000 census, and estimated at 9,843 in January 2008. With the population boom experienced in the North Carolina Research Triangle area in the past two decades, Knightdale is a suburb of Raleigh, bordering that city at the Neuse River. The estimated population of the Raleigh-Durham-Cary Combined Statistical Area (CSA) was 1,565,223 as of July 1, 2006, with the Raleigh-Cary Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) portion estimated at 994,571 residents.