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").
Lavalette is an unincorporated town in Wayne County, West Virginia, in the United States. Lavalette is located at the intersection of West Virginia Route 152 and West Virginia Route 75, eight miles south of Huntington. The town is near Beech Fork Lake, a popular location for boating and fishing, and Twelvepole Creek. Lavalette was named after Lavalette Miller, the daughter of a Norfolk & Western Railway official, as a wedding gift. Lavalette is a part of the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH, Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2000 census, the MSA had a population of 288,649. Lavalette has two 18-hole public golf courses - Sugarwood Golf Club and Twin Silos of Lavalette. Lavalette also has a 24-hour paid EMS ambulance service with two squads and a volunteer fire department with four engine companies.