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").
Elizabethton is the county seat of Carter County, Tennessee, United States. Elizabethton is also the historical site both of the first independent American government settlement located west of both the Eastern Continental Divide and the original thirteen British colonies known as the Watauga Association, the historical site of the Transylvania Purchase, and a major historic muster site for the Battle of Kings Mountain. The population of Elizabethton was enumerated at 13,372 during the 2000 U.S. Decennial Census.