DomAviator
Posts: 1253
Joined: 4/22/2008 Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: pinksugarsub quote:
ORIGINAL: RedMagic1 quote:
ORIGINAL: pinksugarsub Just a friendly lil caution: criminal law is a specialty. Yr lawyer from when You got divorced, had Yr will drawn, or sold Yr house in all likelihood will do You more harm than good. You do not know what you are talking about. Please listen. A public defender is assigned by a judge, well after your arrest. At the moment of arrest, you need some counsel. A "retainer" is a significant chunk of money -- say $5,000 -- that you pay a lawyer in advance to do all kinds of crap for you. Any lawyer, including your divorce attorney, can agree to be the intermediary between you and the police, between the moment of your arrest, and your bail hearing. This does not require a retainer. *If* you ever get arrested, and that happens, the lawyer could then send you a bill for the few minutes it would take to be on the phone with the police. This would not be a big bill (relatively speaking), simply because there's not much to be done between arrest and bail hearing. The expensive stuff takes place between the bail hearing and conclusion of the trial. Thank you, Luci, for telling that story. First of all, dream on as to getting a lil bitty bill from any lawyer...especially for a court appearance. Second, You missed my point...what i was (trying) to say was that if Yr arrested, You need a CRIMINAL lawyer -- not Yr divorce attorney who doesn't even know where the jail is. pinksugarsub Actually this is COMPLETELY INACCURATE. All lawyers who graduate from an ABA accredited law school (essentially meaning lawyers everywhere except California, which will allow any jerkoff who passes the bar exam - including those with no college degree who studied themselves to practice) take a common curriculum in the first year. In the first year this includes both criminal law and criminal procedure as well as evidence and constitutional law. Thus your divorce lawyer, corporate lawyer etc is more than capable of getting you bonded out and of preserving your rights while in custody. A prudent lawyer, who values his reputation and malpractice insurance will not take on cases he or she is not qualified for and will ultimately refer you to a specialist if the matter warrants it. However, all lawyers have the training and expertise needed to say "Don't answer that" or to arrange for a speedy arraignment and to motion for a release on bond or better yet ROR. When my (now) exgirlfriend got tagged for doing 82 mph in a school zone, the lawyer who got her out for me was in fact the corporate lawyer who handles my business matters. (I am not a criminal so I do not have a criminal lawyer.) He did pretty damn good too in that he got it pled down to "failure to obey a traffic control device" to which she pled nolo contendre and he got all the misdemeanors - reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct, verbal assualt on a peace officer, resisting arrest with violence, etc dismissed outright. A flying buddy of mine, who is an oil and gas lawyer, is also the patron saint of various strippers at a certain club known in houston as "The Pirate Ship". He practically lives there (for the buffet lunch of course) and any time the dancers get raided he is right there as their guardian angel, and he is quite effective at shutting them up and unless they have already done some extras for an undercover vice cop, they generally dont miss their next set... Would you want a corporate lawyer or an oil and gas lawyer defending you in a capital murder case? Of course not... BUT, the shit that most people get arrested for is so inconsequential that you dont really even need a lawyer much less a criminal lawyer. Remember, most people arrested are arrested for "bullshit" like vehicle and traffic shit, a bad check, public intoxication, or some absurdly minor thing... I have two things on my criminal record - #1) Failure to impound a stallion (an ag and markets violation when an ungelded male horse (that ironically belonged to my exwife but I paid the boarding bills) got out and threw a hump into someones mare.) and #2) A Fish and Game violation because they changed the boundry of the wildlife management unit since the previous year and I filled a doe tag in the wrong zone. Whooopie shit. I didnt need OJ's dream team to get out of those... Best thing to do. Keep your mouth shut. Be respectful so the cop doesnt beat the piss out of you and hang additional charges on you... (My exgirlfriend could probably have talked her way out of the school zone thing by being polite and respectful instead of launching into the "Youve got to be fucking kidding me! Town what town! Where was the speedzone sign! This is bullshit! Fuck you! No Im not getting out of the car you fucking asshole etc" However, she got her ass kicked and got slapped with a laundry list of charges...) If arrested dont resist. Dont answer questions invoke your right to counsel and make your call. Dont engage the cops in small talk - not even about baseball. Because then - if it goes to court the cop testifies "Oh yes he was very pleasant! Very friendly, downright chatty... Then he lawyered up and refused to answer questions about the bloody axe in his trunk" Don't talk to cellmates either cause they can cut deals... Ie - yeah I got a hummer from this dancer in the pirate ship... Well next thing you know hes testifying that you were bragging to him that... (There ARE ways around the heresay rule - one of them being a person testifying about what you told them!) To be blunt, some people can handle a custodial interrogation situation better than others. Neither of the times I got hung up, the ag and markets thing or the deer hunting thing, did I bother to call a lawyer. Because I know my rights, I wasnt scared, and they couldnt coerce me to say or sign anything.... However, Im not a wet pants scared little 19 year old girl who just got the living snot beat out of her- so I got my lawyer down to Britt mucho pronto before she signed a statement admitting she was on the grassy knoll in Dallas LOL! However, ANY lawyer will do to arrange bail and to advise you during an interrogation. In fact ANY lawyer is worth a hell of a lot more in that situation that a bondsman. Bondsmen are ripoffs unless youre dirt poor and cant come up with the cash bond. Id rather put up $5000 and get it all back than put up $500 and kiss it goodbye and a lawyer can often get you released without bond....
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