Richard has stated the situation quite well; I would only add my view that the most important thing a lawyer can do is to understand the facts and circusmstances of a case in as much detail as is humanly possible; it is only then that you can examine witnesses effectively and create doubt about the state s case. Some cases are very difficult or even nearly impossible to defend ... then you try to negotiate a plea. Please remember: lawyers are lawyers, not magicians ... don t believe half of what you read about superstar lawyers quot;getting people off.quot; Most criminal defendants are convicted and that s that. And a truly first rate defense is quite expensive because it takes a lot of time and considerable skill.
Lawyers are sneaky coniving devils and if you have one who is good at there job they can do all kinds of things to help. First of all they know the laws better than you. Secondly they can shuffle around court dates and evidence so much that all kinds of evidence and paperwork get lost in the mix. Your lawyer sucks. I would look into changing councilers and right away.
It s not up to the Defense lawyer to quot;prove his innocencequot;. It s up to the State to prove his guilt. That happens at trial, not before. I gather from what you say that the case has not yet gone to trial? If that s the case then the State (Scotland, I d guess, since you refer to a quot;fiscalquot;) is TOTALLY in the drivers seat as far as timing goes. The lawyer cannot force them to go to trial before they are ready, and there s nothing to prove until it does go to trial. Pre-trial the defense lawyers job is almost all paperwork. He has to make sure that he gets all the prosecutions evidence before the trial starts, make sure that all witnesses are booked in and that he knows what they are going to testify to. He should also have examined the circumstances to see if there s anything that would give him grounds to move to have anything excluded, and done investigations into anything that would impeach the credibility of witnesses - his or the States. Richard
base it on how much u pay yr liar or lawyer, i think the more u pay, the slower they talk. some times more money could mean a lighter sentence. but in the end it s the gay guy in the dress behind the big bench drinking vodka, that ultimatly decides the end story.
Wow. This sounds exactly like a case that s I m handling right now. Hopefully, the lawyer you re talking about is not me. Anyway, let me set you straight on a few things. A lawyer is not a fairy god mother. He can t wave a magic wand and make the trouble go away. It could be that the lawyer can t do anything to reduce the time that the person is going to spend in jail. In some cases, the the defendant has gotten himself in a big mess and has confessed or been seen on video or done something that is irreversible long before the lawyer gets involved. At that point, the lawyer may only be able to give the defendant two equally bad options: 1. Plead out to a huge amount of time OR 2. Take it to a jury trial and probably get even more time. I deal with a lot of DUIs. 95% of the time, there is nothing I can do. The person is usually stopped lawfully (or the cops are going to be believed and not the accused as to what occurred). And they were in the car and they were drunk and they had a blood alcohol concentration of .15 or .25 or something really, really bad. If the cops didn t stop them legally or they were near the legal limit or it s unclear whether the accused was actually driving, maybe I can do something. If I can t do something about their innocence and the DA wants to send the person to jail or prison and the judge wants to go along with the DA, our options are limited. If the person has a record that goes back a long way, then the judge is unlikely to cut the person a break. If the person has been to prison a bunch of times or has a strike or two, then the options become very limited. Also, an attorney has a lot of cases and each case doesn t progress quickly. It usually takes weeks just for a case where someone wants to plead quickly to run its course. A case where an attorney is trying to get a not guilty verdict will take 2 months at the very least and more likely 6 months. An attorney should be doing an investigation and it takes time to request the investigation and for that investigation to take place. Of course, if this is a private attorney, and the client doesn t have money for the investigation, but just for the attorney, you are unlikely to get an investigation. You have to pay for that, too. Additionally, I have found that some people have unrealistic expectations. Clients want motions that the attorney knows can t possibily win. A lot of people think that the justice system works the way it does on TV. It does not. The judges and jury often believe the cops. And it s not about being a silver tougued devil who can dance circles around the other guy. Usually, both attorneys are very competent. Don t expect a criminal defense attorney to roll over a DA. The DAs aren t stupid. They know what they can bring in and, in the vast majority of cases, the DA has all the good evidence. While there is certainly drama in a criminal case, it s not about surprise witnesses showing up at the last minute. The attorneys know what s coming long before it comes and are ready for it (or they are supposed to be). The criminal defense attorney s job is to analyse the evidence in light of the state of the law. The criminal defense attorney then takes this information to the defendant and makes a recommendation. It is then up to the defendant to make a decision. To go to trial or to plead??? When the defendant makes that choice, the attorney then comes up with a game plan to try to get a good result for the defendant. Notice I said quot;try.quot; If the defendant goes against the recommendation, the attorney can only do his best. He should continue to make recommendations as the case progresses. He should explain the law and the reality of the court he is in and the DA he is up against. It is never about proving one s innocence. It s about getting the best result. If the DA had doubts about the defendant to begin with, the DA would not have charged the defendant in the first place. Of course, if there is serious evidence regarding the defendant s innocence, this should be provided to the DA and must be at some point before trial. Maybe the DA can dismiss the case. Of course, what you consider to be serious evidence and what I consider to be serious evidence are two different things. Just because someone says they are innocent doesn t mean they are. I ve had clients who confessed on tape over a tapped jail house phone or who clearly committed the crime on video tape, but they said they were innocent. After what I ve seen and heard, you have to forgive me if I don t take your family member s word for it. I always reserve judgment, but what I feel and believe is irrelevant. What I can prove or what holes I can punch in the DA s case are what is very, very relevant. But if there is something there and the attorney isn t doing anything about it, you should considered getting a new attorney.
First off, if this person is guilty of the crime, then he deserves to go to jail no matter who he is or how nice of a person, guilty is guilty. But, if he is not guilty, then the lawyer is supposed to take all the information from the person involved and try to prove his innocents. Gather all the evidence he can, get a copy of the police report, copy of the witness list if any, interview them to as what they saw or heard and compile any proof that he can to show that the accused did not take part in the crime that includes going to the crime scene and trying to reenact any part of it to see if it makes sense. These are things that a good attorney will do, he will investigate the case to bring about the best possible out come. That could even mean taking a plea deal instead of going to court. If the attorney he has now is not doing his job to your or the other persons satisfactory, he can fire him and get another attorney, if he is a court appointed attorney he can go back to court and ask for new representation and charge the attorney with false or misrepresentation and dereliction of duty. If you have any questions about the responsibilities of any attorney, call your local Bar Association the number will be in the phone book in the attorneys section, you can also report him to the Bar Association for the same complaints of dereliction of duty and misrepresentation. Good luck, take care and Keep the Faith ....cya....PEACE....
lawyers are there to drain your bank account for you
