I have been trying to contact this court appointed attorney that is assigned to my son's criminal case. It has been 3 days and he has not returned any of my calls. Should I hire an attorney to take over the case? How much do attorney's charge for felonies on first time offenders? What is the process? Please only honest responses; this is serious to me and my family.
2007-04-18 10:20:14 · 15 answers · asked by preciousmoments 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
Court Appointed lawyers or " public defenders" are better known as public pretenders! They work for the state and are often not looking out for your best interest. From my own personal experience you should DEFINATELY hire a real attorney. A good attorney can often be worth their weight in gold! As far as the costs- it depends- the more they cost does not allways mean that they are a better lawyer. I however had several misdemeanors and was on felony probation for my first offense at the time and to have all of the cases handled cost me about $15,000.00. This was expensive but if I had a public defender then I surely would have been in prison for 3-5 years. I only did about 3 months and have no felony convictions on my record! I was however extremely lucky! Feel free to contact me with any other questions at bdegraf712@yahoo.com I have unfortunately a lot of experience in my past with the court systems. If this is your son's first charge then it should be no big deal, depending on what it is for-that will make a huge difference- you want to get the felony expunged off his record if he is found guilty- Good luck, I hope that I helped and please feel free to contact me with more questions.
2007-04-18 10:34:51 · answer #1 · answered by 712 MOBB 1 · 1⤊ 2⤋
It really depends on how the system is set up in your state, but most of the time the court-appointed ones are really backlogged and that's probably why you have yet to get a return call. And it's a coin toss, you could get a great one or an awful one.
If it's really important to you for him to have the best representation, and you want to hire an attorney of your choosing, be prepered to spend a minimum of $5,000.00 up front on a retainer for a felony matter. And that may not be the end of it either, depending on how long it takes the case to be resolved.
Start doing some investigating about the credentials of criminal defense attorneys in your area.
2007-04-18 10:52:13 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Do what's right. There are variables. How old is your son? What are the circumstances?
You will need to actually speak to an attorney to find the costs. I believe they vary quite a bit. Safe to say, it's not cheap.
The court appointed attorneys are busy people, overworked and underpaid, and often new to law (but not always) so your son may not get the best service.
Depending on the charges, first time offenders for minor things are usually let off I think with just probation...depends if it's a felony or misdemeanor situation.
2007-04-18 10:28:16 · answer #3 · answered by powhound 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If this is serious to you, I would not use a court appointed attorney, unless that is a last resort. Expect to pay around $5000 for a decent attorny to represent your son. I know the court appointed lawyers are crap, they work for the court system, so they obviously will favor the system and not your son. When you call the lawyer's office, yu can speak the lawyer and explain your case. Than set-up a meeting where he/she will give you the figures on how much it will cost. Good luck to you and your family.
2007-04-18 10:34:38 · answer #4 · answered by NateDizz651 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A court appointed attorney is a coin toss. A paid attorney will cost a fortune, depending of course, on the crime he's charged with.
Whatever crime he is accused of, make sure you get a jury trial as placing your sons fate in the hands of one man or woman's (the judge) decision is a 50/50 chance. When you are in court, bring some printed (large) pictures of the Pentagon attack and tell them when the government shows us the video the FBI confiscated from the Sheraton Inn that filmed the 9/11 attack you'll be glad to defend your son in the crimes he's accused of. But until then, this country has no right to prosecute anyone. I'm dead serious. I'm sure you will find several people on the jury who agree and your son will go free.
Almost everyone knows the government was involved if not the chief architect of 9/11. Your son will walk if you use 9/11 against the government.
2007-04-18 10:26:41 · answer #5 · answered by VOTE RON PAUL 2008 2 · 1⤊ 4⤋
the only thing about court appointed att. is they have so many other cases and don't get paid what they feel they are worth. court app. att's hate getting cases and that is why. you should be able to get an attorney for around 2 thousand but really depends on the crime and as far as the crt app att goes, he will take his time they all do
2007-04-18 10:28:13 · answer #6 · answered by sassy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not if you want to win. Public Defenders try, but are so overworked it is impossible for them to put on a good defense. The prosecutor has 100's of people to do work for him. It is not very fair. Attorneys are quite expensive, but how much is your son's freedom worth.
2007-04-18 10:25:46 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Criminal Records Search Database : http://www.InfoSearchDetective.com/Support
2015-09-24 22:29:02 · answer #8 · answered by Ngan 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i had a self appointed atty. he ask me to plead guilty when i was innocent, the greatest words i ever heard from a lawyer is don't anyone plead guilty ,if he is a first time offender he may be o.k. get another lawyer you are the best dad to want to help your son, most dads would not be as humble as a father like you to get on the Internet and ask for help
2007-04-18 10:33:53 · answer #9 · answered by ? 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1) to be fair to public defenders, if they don't call u back it might be b/c they just have a huge workload, not because they're out to lunch.
2)just be advised that criminal defense lawyers usually ask for all or most of the money up front just because otherwise they'll never see any $
2007-04-18 10:39:48 · answer #10 · answered by njyogibear 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋