The best time to hire a criminal defense lawyer is before you are charged. If law enforcement has contacted you, if you have been asked to come in and “clear something up,” if a detective has left a card at your door — you are not a witness. You are a suspect, and you have not been charged yet only because the case is not finished. That window is the single most valuable moment in a criminal case. It is when evidence can still be preserved. When a statement can be prevented. When the District Attorney can be presented with a reason not to file at all. Cases that are never charged do not need to be won. Do not talk to the police. Call a lawyer.