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").
Robbins is a city in Moore County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,195 at the 2000 census. Robbins is the hometown of North Carolina senator and 2004 Democratic vice-presidential candidate John Edwards, and is the annual site of the Mid Atlantic Star Party, a regional gathering of amateur astronomers. Robbins' name has changed 10 times over the years. It started as Cagles Goldmine Community in the early 1700s and was settled by the descendants of Leonard "Lionheart" Cagle who immigrated there via Philadelphia from the Palatine Valley of Germany at age 70. His son Henry is believed to be the one that settled in between the creeks that border the city to the east and owned the land where the gold mine was located. Kennedy gunworks was located in Robbins during the American Civil War and stands today as Robbins Hosiery Mill. It is also home to the Standard Mineral Company, a mine on the outskirts of town that ships talc all over the world.