GREETINGS my fellow bloggers, blawgers, lawyers, clients, future clients (hopefully-even after you read this article), friends, family, teachers, parents and so on & so on. Happy New Year. If you are like me you are ready to say a big final farewell to the Topsy turvy ups and downs of 2008. WHOA!! what a roller coaster ride that year was. This year I think I prefer a much smoother ride. No I am not talking carousel. I mean I do want some excitement in my life and besides going round and round just makes me dizzy & sick. I think the Ferris Wheel will be my ride for 2009. So again HAPPY NEW YEAR & welcome back.
Did I mention that one of my new year's resolutions is to write at least one useful, informative, educational, interesting , creative article each week to post for those who are interested in Louisiana Criminal law. And from time to time I will research other areas and provide you with a little Louisiana Lagniappe. I probably did not mention it because I have yet to EVER keep one single New Year's Resolution, but this is 09 and we are talking "about a brand new time" I have so much that I want to accomplish in 2009, beginning with finally completing my novel. I am also eager and excited about finally learning how to blog. So I will Jump right to it. It's not like I have a huge fan base or anything so when one of my readers makes a request I am Johnny on The Spot.
My friend Claire, a pretty recent law school graduate, skipped working for a large corporate firm only to learn that her job had become obsolete to the economy forcing the company to downsize, just as she became accustomed to her Range Rover, St. John's knit suits, Her Neimans credit card and a plush Brownstone in the Garden District. Lucky for Claire she never had all that and BOOM < WHAM all @ once had it sucked away sending her into a tailspin or never-ending "what am I gonna do for a job?" cries. Never picturing herself working for the government like her good friend here. I can still hear her voice as she began the early untainted years of her legal career, Law School 101, " Liss, really how do you stand it. You work in a broom closet without a window and Oh my Gawd you have Naugahyde chairs, gross. No , that life would not suit Claire, leaving her with about one real option," HANG THAT SHINGLE CUZ WE ARE FLYING SOLO"
Getting to Claire's request actually lets me address another group of people about a legal issue I have been meaning to cover. I have been working on a short piece for all potential clients, designed to help them wisely select their Criminal defense Attorney, sort of a top ten list or a list of do's and don't's. Now Claire has asked me for help on how to manage difficult clients. So I will try to do the one thing lawyers should be able to do, multi task, DOUBLE BILL, I AM KIDDING!! I REPEAT , THAT WAS A JOKE, MY POOR ATTEMPT AT HUMOR
As a person who sits accused of a crime, you know the kind you can actually be sentenced to real jail time for, the one thought running though your mind should be "how do I get the Very Best Criminal defense Attorney. There is one question you need to resolve with yourself before you start Lawyer shopping. Are you the kind of person who ultimately cares about the end result, and in criminal law that has to be the most crucial decision you make. Do i care about the end result? Do i care whether or not I go to Jail and miss watching my kids grow up and then if I do get out I will be a convicted felon. YES, absolutely, the end result should be your main focus, your only concern, not whether or not you think your lawyer is nice, handsome, witty, , No none of that.....can he get the job done and keep me out of jail in the end?????????
Or are you what is sometimes referredd to in the legal community as a "hand holder"? A Hand holder is someone who is needy and needs constant reassuring. They get angry, pouty, mad, at your secretary or paralegal when they call you in the middle of the workday and learn that you are , guess where, "in court". This somehow comes as a surprise to them. Then as if you were able to telepathically read your assistants mind you are now aware that they need to talk to you right away. So when they call back at 11:30 a.m, a mere one hour after the earlier call they become either really upset and hurt as if it a personal crusade against them or they become even more angry often belligerent to learn that you are still in court. Just exactly what did they think you did during the day when they hired you as their trial attorney? As if adding insult to injury now they need to know if you are back? No, then they need to know if your assistant has given you the message that they called. She tries politely to explain that she has not been able to pass the message to you because you have not left court to check your messages. She reassures them they do not need to worry, that your very first court appearance, your arraignment, which is merely a formality is still four months away. She reminds them that that is why they hired an attorney, that is why they hired you, so they could worry less knowing that they have a very good, experienced attorney working on their case. I could go on and on about how the day plays out how many calls are placed, but I won't.
The only thing worse is the habitual "drop in" client. The client who never schedules an appointment even at the urging of both you and your staff, they never want to schedule an appointment. They simply pop in when they are in the neighborhood or when their friend had some downtown banking to do, or they had some free time on their hands.
Lets get right down to it, a person hires a criminal defense attorney when they are in big trouble. Big trouble is quantitative, it means something different to just about everyone. For example a long time career criminal does not consider a misdemeanor D.W.I or a simple misdemeanor possession of mairjuana to be " big trouble", on the other hand a school bus driver or a high school senior with a promising future filled with choices of academic and athletic scholarships would find either of the two charges "Big Big Trouble.
One of the first mistakes that people who are accused of crimes makes come at this stage, during a "not so serious charge" more specifically a traffic ticket or a low grade misdemeanor. With todays economy and our unemployment at an all time ever high, good jobs are tough to come by and even tougher to hold on to. So why is it that seemingly reasonable, educated, normal people let their good common sense jump right off the ferris wheel during the arrest of these small cases. Ironically it is usually after the end of the misdemeanor case that the School teacher or the college co-ed or the soccer mom realize what a monstrous mistake they made.
As lawyers we have heard all the excuses and so I will share a few with you. "Well I didn't think I needed to hire an attorney for that little ole misunderstanding at the Sonic (that little misunderstanding was a fight.) did you not realize that hitting or striking another was a real live crime, that carries with it a lifelong permanent criminal record. That little ole misunderstanding actually bought you three misdemeanors convictions, because you were charged with 6 offenses and when the D.A. offered to drop three and let you plead guilty to only three and he fattened the pot when he threw in " and I will even agree to only one fine for all three, meaning I will run them concurrent for you" Oh gee he seems so nice, I was right I did not need to hire an attorney. What was that lawyer thinking? He wanted to charge $3500, huh to do what? I bet little more than I just did myself. I am sure glad I did not waste my money.
The problem is you don't realize until it is too late that Domestic Battery is one of the violent offenses that can never be expunged from your record But I bet that Lawyer would have, and he undoubtedly would have negotiated a deal for you that included the state dropping or reducing the domestic battery charge to s simple battery so you would not have to have a permanent record.
Before I give you my opinion on hiring an attorney let me just say this; If all fails, if you forget everything you read in this article, remember this next point. Nothing in life is free, if it sounds too good to be true it is, and you get what you pay for. It continues to amaze me that people who have lived life for a quarter of a century or more, learned their fair share of life's hard lessons will scrimp and barter and try to pay as little as possible when hiring a criminal defense attorney. The very same, smart, intelligent people would not dare scrimp or try to save buck when they buy dog food or choose a hair stylist, but are willing to gamble with their life and permanent criminal record.
The one other "little misdemeanor" case that I see more people make the huge mistake of either not hiring an attorney, settling for a free attorney or hiring the least expensive attorney they can find is the group of citizens that need an attorney more than anyone else, for our Judicial system is designed to protect the innocent. The very reason we allow so many guilty men to go free , even when we believe they are guilty is that our system requires the state to prove that they are guilty and to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. It is not enough to merely say, shout it, they must prove it and if they do not then the system works and the guilty go free. You see if a system is so flawed that it cannot protect the innocent how could it ever protect the truly guilty.
That is the theory, that is why we are forced to turn out guilty people, back to break another law another day. Having said that. whenever i see someone who truly is clearly, obviously not guilty of the charge for which they are accused, they become so righteous and determined to prove that they do not need an attorney because, well simply because they are innocent. Mistake! In the eyes of the law it matters not if you are Innocent. It only matters if you are guilty or not guilty and that is a legal term not a moral term. One is not guilty if the state fails to prove that they committed the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.
Simply put:
Barbara is charged with DWI. Barbara is innocent, she has never consumed a drink in her life, in fact she was not even the driver of the car, but by some misfortune she is charged with DWI.
Jason is guilty as sin, he was falling down drunk, caused an accident and admitted he was drunk, confessed it to six police officers and he blew three times the legal limit on the breath test.
Both Barbara & Jason hire Bernie the Super Attorney and they both pay him five thousand dollars each.
He does not have too much work to do on Barbara's case, but he is able to establish her alibi and calls her doctor as a witness to show that she is a diabetic and diabetics often have a fruity smell on their breath a smell that is far too often mistaken for alcohol. In Jason's case Bernie has a harder fight, but he manages to suppress the confession because Jason's rights were not properly read to him, he finds a clerical error on the breath machine log and has that piece of evidence thrown out and so on.
At the end of the day the state has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that either Barbara or Jason were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the driving in question.
At the end of the day what happens. Easy , both Barbara and Jason walk out of the courtroom acquitted, havving been found "NOT GUILTY" by either the judge or a jury.
What is the difference in the two cases. Legally nothing. Both Barbara & Jason are not guilty.
Not Guilty does not= Innocent
Innocent is a moral term not a legal term.
Stay Tuned:
