Why don't attorneys like to give free advice over the phone? Attorneys understand that it is difficult to sell you something invisible that you can't touch, smell, taste, see, or feel. We understand that you feel like you are paying someone to give you advice, which most people do for free all day long--even if you didn't want their advice. Attorneys have to go to college at least 7 years, take a horrible test that lasts at least two days (12 hours); background checks; pay fees every year to keep license; keep taking classes every year to keep license; and, if we mess up bad, they take our license away. Businesses can go on TV, on the radio, in magazines, and newspapers and say just about anything. If they get caught, no big deal. For us it's a big deal. Who else do you know that can attack a giant coroporation or the governement, or the police?
What's going to happen? It is very important to know that prosecutors can go at you as hard or as light as they want to. Defense attorneys have no say in that. Most of the time the defense attorney is waiting on the prosecutor to see if the prosecutor will dismiss the charges against you, or make an offer--a plea bargain. If your case is not dismissed, then the defense attorney is waiting on the prosecutor to see what kind of evidence the police or other witneses have and how strong the evidence is.
When do we try to suppress evidence? To try and suppress evidence against you, your constitutional rights must have been violated. If your defense attorney does not want to supress evidence it is because your rights were not violated.
Why is the Prosecutor being so harsh? Personality, or sometimes the prosecutor is not allowed under law to offer you a light punishment.
Why are there so few trials (and so many pleas)? For Prosecutors it's usually because they have tons of cases, little time for trials, and juries are unpredictable. For defense attorneys it's because a jury will often believe a police officer over a defendant. Also, after hearing the case, juries who don't have enough information will "make up" things (facts) that could be harmful to the defendant. Also, some unforgiving jurors will say they are fair, but really think justice means putting the defendant in jail. And again, juries are unpredictable.
What is reasonable suspicion/probable cause? Reasonable suspicion is just a "hunch" really. A police officer can ask you a few questions, ask for your ID, pat you down, search your car to look for drugs, weapons, or tell you to leave, etc. If they find something, it turns into probable cause to arrest. To be arrested, the police officer only has to think you are committing or have committed a crime. Hopefully, the prosecutor will find that you did not commit a crime and dismiss, or your attorney will convince the prosecutor and judge that you are innocent.
Why was I arrested and not him/her? Like prosecutors, officers have a lot of power and a lot of discretion (choice). Police officers can decide who they want to arrest and prosecutors can decide who they want to prosecute. Some officers want to know what really happened and arrest the right person on the spot, and some just want to break up the disturbance or action and move on. They figure if you are innocent, you will get an attorney and complain to the attorney instead of them. Remember the officers job is law enforcement; attorneys, judges, and courts decide laws; and representatives and senators at the capital make laws.
What if I have a warrant for my arrest? Whether you can afford an attorney or not, you have to have a very good reason for missing court. Work is not good enough. If you have some evidence or paperwork that shows you or a close family relative were in the hospital or were very sick, your attorney might be able to make the warrant go away, or the judge might forgive you. The longer you wait to get an attorney, go to court, turn yourself in, or get arrested, the better the excuse must be. Some judges get very upset if you miss court. You don't want to have a trial with judge who already does not like you.
What happens if I violate or "break" probation? If you are charged with violating probation by the probation officer you could end up getting sentenced for whatever put you on probation in the first place. If you were arrested, same thing except your looking at a new charge on top of the old charge.
What is "diversion", or a diversion program, in some cases called "drug court"? This is a program courts have created to divert "small-time" or first-time offenders away from jail or prison to reduce case load on the courts, and to reduce the amount of people being incarcerated. Basically, it is probation before you are adjudicated a delinquent or a criminal, whereas probation used to be mainly for people after they got out of jail/prison. The court will want you to get counseling, or do community service (costs money), stay out of trouble, or make you pay fines, etc., then adjudication will be witheld when you complete everything. Adjudication witheld means you can say you were not convicted on a job application. But, if you do not complete the program you are violating probation, and even if adjudication is withheld it could still count as a 1st conviction if you are charged and convicted a 2nd time, such as driving on a suspended license.
