When you’re accused of murder, it can feel like fighting for your innocence is simply delaying your inevitable prison sentencing. Even if you are acquitted, it often seems like your life will never get back on track and that your accusal will follow you around forever. Fortunately, this doesn’t have to be the case.
In this article, a murder defense attorney in Tampa will discuss four celebrities that beat their murder charges. A murder defense lawyer in Tampa from the Rickman Law Firm can protect your innocence by giving you a better chance of beating a case in which you’ve been wrongly accused of a violent crime.
Before he was jumping from exploding buildings and crafting burgers with his brothers, Mark Wahlberg was a troubled youth with a dodgy history. The popular actor from films like “Shooter”, “Deepwater Horizon,” and “The Departed” was charged with attempted murder when he was only 16 years old. As the story goes, an angry young Wahlberg was responsible for assaulting two Vietnamese men with an array of objects while shouting racial epithets. The attack left one man blind in one eye, but Wahlberg worked with a lawyer to have his sentence reduced to 45 days in prison after he pleaded guilty to assault.
Before Snoop Dogg was “dropping it like it’s hot,” he was trying to get charges dropped against him and his former bodyguard. In 1993, the duo was charged with murder in connection to the death of Phillip Woldemariam, a member of a rival gang. However, the charges against Snoop Dogg’s bodyguard were quickly dropped after it was determined that he shot Woldemariam in self-defense. Strangely, Snoop was implicated until his acquittal in 1996. Today, Snoop Dogg is a mega celebrity who has had a tremendously positive impact on society.
Famed NFL linebacker Ray Lewis was charged in 2000 for the murder of two men following a brawl outside a club in Atlanta. Lewis was connected with the stabbing death of two men from the other group involved in the brawl, but he was acquitted on all charges after taking a plea deal in which he testified against his friends who had turned themselves in mere days after the incident took place. Lewis worked with a lawyer to receive a one-year probation sentencing for obstruction of justice—a misdemeanor.
In 2005, the actor who played Matthew Bevilaqua in “The Sopranos” was charged with second-degree murder in relation to the shooting death of an off-duty law enforcement officer. Brancato Jr. was acquitted of the murder charge but received 10 years in prison for attempted burglary.
All defendants are innocent until proven guilty. Even if you have been charged with a crime you did not commit, such as murder, consult a murder defense lawyer in Tampa before you accept your sentencing.
For a free consultation with an experienced murder defense attorney in Tampa, please contact The Rickman Law Firm today.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for general educational information only. This information does not constitute legal advice, is not intended to constitute legal advice, nor should it be relied upon as legal advice for your specific factual pattern or situation.