In relation to this thread.
My civil attorney sent a memo around the office for me to get a referral. Anyway, I was refereed to this Criminal Attorney, paid him his fee of 750, and he told me he was appearing for me in March. I talk to him 3 or 4 times and he says he keeps getting continuances, and that he talked to the officer and the officer was going to drop one charge. Then I can't get a hold of him for about a month. Repeated phone messages, etc. I finally get my Civil Attorney to talk to his brother-in-law(who is an attorney at my Civil Firm) and the BIL can't get in contact either. My Attorney's secretary calls the court on my behalf and learns that he NEVER appeared, never got a continuance, and that as of April 28th, 2004 a warrant was issued for my arrest. I now am flying back Thursday night and have to go talk to another attorney on Friday(a decidely more well-known one) and then turn myself in. I will have to be processed all again and have to bond out. I'm going to write the Bar association a letter, and I hope to recover the fee I paid as well. I can't put in words how pissed I am, but at least my boss was cool about it and had no problem with me taking Friday off. :|
Anyone know what else can be done?
Update - I appeared today, and was offered a plea of me pleading guilty to the Disorderly Charge and the Failure to Appear charge. I was then to use my Youthful Offender ability(weird Alabama thing) so that means my record would have been sealed. I said no to that, and said I'd rather go to court. Weird how they never wanted to prosecute the Public Intox charge(hard to do when they have no proof and I wasn't drunk!). Well, my attorney went back and said I wouldn't agree to that plea, and that I'd rather take it to trial. The DA then offers to just have me plead to the FTA(failure to appear) and use my YO on that. Again, I said that was a charge I wasn't guilty of, and I wasn't going to plea to it. Finally the DA agreed to drop the FTA outright and defer the other two charges until December 10th. If I finish my semester at school(show them proof of grades) and get a letter from my employer saying I was employed until the end of the season then they will drop them all.
Still not as good as an outright drop, but that was the best that could be done. Such a scam that I have to pay 400 in court costs + 450 to the new attorney + I'm having to fight to recover my 750 from the other attorney. Now, if they dropped the charges what does that tell you? Especially since very plea always had the PI dropped. PI is hard to prove without Breathalyzer(which I didn't take) and/or witnesses. My attorney said that the Police report reeked of BS, and even if I was guilty he'd have a hard time believing it(which I'm not guilty). The report says I was violent(never been violent in my life), made obscene gestures(lol, it is almost comedic that they said this, because my mom was like you've never done that, and she's right I haven't), and cursed AT the officers(which is a lie as well). The report also said I was staggering and couldn't walk. Right... so that's why the PI was instantly dropped eh? I had a few beers over a long night and after a meal. I wasn't intoxicated.
Regardless I guess this is good news minus the court costs. It just goes to show you that it isn't true about being innocent until proven guilty. It is the opposite into today's society. My attorney said if we went to trial we'd automatically lose in Municipal(can't win there) and then have to appeal to circuit(requires a 1000 bond) and then we'd have a jury trial. See, the system is setup to where it is BEST to plea or admit to something you didn't do, because fighting it if you are innocent is costlier and has dire consequences. That's real brilliant, eh?
My civil attorney sent a memo around the office for me to get a referral. Anyway, I was refereed to this Criminal Attorney, paid him his fee of 750, and he told me he was appearing for me in March. I talk to him 3 or 4 times and he says he keeps getting continuances, and that he talked to the officer and the officer was going to drop one charge. Then I can't get a hold of him for about a month. Repeated phone messages, etc. I finally get my Civil Attorney to talk to his brother-in-law(who is an attorney at my Civil Firm) and the BIL can't get in contact either. My Attorney's secretary calls the court on my behalf and learns that he NEVER appeared, never got a continuance, and that as of April 28th, 2004 a warrant was issued for my arrest. I now am flying back Thursday night and have to go talk to another attorney on Friday(a decidely more well-known one) and then turn myself in. I will have to be processed all again and have to bond out. I'm going to write the Bar association a letter, and I hope to recover the fee I paid as well. I can't put in words how pissed I am, but at least my boss was cool about it and had no problem with me taking Friday off. :|
Anyone know what else can be done?
Update - I appeared today, and was offered a plea of me pleading guilty to the Disorderly Charge and the Failure to Appear charge. I was then to use my Youthful Offender ability(weird Alabama thing) so that means my record would have been sealed. I said no to that, and said I'd rather go to court. Weird how they never wanted to prosecute the Public Intox charge(hard to do when they have no proof and I wasn't drunk!). Well, my attorney went back and said I wouldn't agree to that plea, and that I'd rather take it to trial. The DA then offers to just have me plead to the FTA(failure to appear) and use my YO on that. Again, I said that was a charge I wasn't guilty of, and I wasn't going to plea to it. Finally the DA agreed to drop the FTA outright and defer the other two charges until December 10th. If I finish my semester at school(show them proof of grades) and get a letter from my employer saying I was employed until the end of the season then they will drop them all.
Still not as good as an outright drop, but that was the best that could be done. Such a scam that I have to pay 400 in court costs + 450 to the new attorney + I'm having to fight to recover my 750 from the other attorney. Now, if they dropped the charges what does that tell you? Especially since very plea always had the PI dropped. PI is hard to prove without Breathalyzer(which I didn't take) and/or witnesses. My attorney said that the Police report reeked of BS, and even if I was guilty he'd have a hard time believing it(which I'm not guilty). The report says I was violent(never been violent in my life), made obscene gestures(lol, it is almost comedic that they said this, because my mom was like you've never done that, and she's right I haven't), and cursed AT the officers(which is a lie as well). The report also said I was staggering and couldn't walk. Right... so that's why the PI was instantly dropped eh? I had a few beers over a long night and after a meal. I wasn't intoxicated.
Regardless I guess this is good news minus the court costs. It just goes to show you that it isn't true about being innocent until proven guilty. It is the opposite into today's society. My attorney said if we went to trial we'd automatically lose in Municipal(can't win there) and then have to appeal to circuit(requires a 1000 bond) and then we'd have a jury trial. See, the system is setup to where it is BEST to plea or admit to something you didn't do, because fighting it if you are innocent is costlier and has dire consequences. That's real brilliant, eh?
