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").
Westhoff is an unincorporated community in northwestern DeWitt County, Texas, United States. The town began as a depot on the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway in 1906. Early on the town was named Bello, but that was rejected as it bore too close a similarity to a similarly named town, Bells. The town suffered a serious fire in 1913. The population of the town peaked at near 500 in the mid-1920s, and since the 1960s most official documents list the town population at 410, where it remained as of 2000.