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").
Belpre is a city in Washington County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River. It is part of the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna, WV-OH Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 6,660 at the 2000 census. The city was also the second settlement in the Northwest Territory after Marietta, located just upriver and today the county seat of Washington County. The town was originally named Belle Prairie or "Beautiful Prairie. " The Steven Soderbergh film Bubble, released in 2006, was filmed in Belpre and Parkersburg using an all-local cast. total area of 3.5 square miles (9.1 km), of which, 3.5 square miles (9.1 km) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km) of it (0.85%) is water.