How do I select a good criminal defense attorney?

February 2011 will mark the start of my twelfth year as a criminal defense attorney.  I spent the first four and a half years, after graduating from Cornell Law School, working as a state prosecutor, both in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Atlanta, Georgia. The last eleven years, I have defended individuals accused of all types of crimes.  During those fifteen years, I worked an average of seventy hours a week, and saw my fair share of justice and lunacy. 

If you have been arrested and/or charged with a criminal offense, you are about to enter the arcane world of criminal law. My first piece of advice in selecting a good criminal defense attorney is similar to the advice offered in selecting a good attorney: Have a trusted family attorney, or family friend that practices law, refer you to a criminal defense attorney. If you do not have such a resource, then you need to take heed of the following advice.

When searching for an attorney you should be focused on two things: energy and experience.  You need to find an attorney that possesses both.  You want to avoid attorneys that have graduated from law school in the last three years, because while they may have a lot of energy, their lack of experience means they will be learning to practice law with your case.  You want to avoid attorneys that have graduated more than fifty years ago, because while they may have a ton of experience, they are often unable to return phone calls or stay awake in court.

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How do I select a good criminal defense attorney?

February 2011 will mark the start of my twelfth year as a criminal defense attorney.  I spent the first four and a half years, after graduating from Cornell Law School, working as a state prosecutor, both in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Atlanta, Georgia. The last eleven years, I have defended individuals accused of all types of crimes.  During those fifteen years, I worked an average of seventy hours a week, and saw my fair share of justice and lunacy. 

If you have been arrested and/or charged with a criminal offense, you are about to enter the arcane world of criminal law. My first piece of advice in selecting a good criminal defense attorney is similar to the advice offered in selecting a good attorney: Have a trusted family attorney, or family friend that practices law, refer you to a criminal defense attorney. If you do not have such a resource, then you need to take heed of the following advice.

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How do I select a good criminal defense attorney?

February 2011 will mark the start of my twelfth year as a criminal defense attorney.  I spent the first four and a half years, after graduating from Cornell Law School, working as a state prosecutor, both in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Atlanta, Georgia. The last eleven years, I have defended individuals accused of all types of crimes.  During those fifteen years, I worked an average of seventy hours a week, and saw my fair share of justice and lunacy. 

If you have been arrested and/or charged with a criminal offense, you are about to enter the arcane world of criminal law. My first piece of advice in selecting a good criminal defense attorney is similar to the advice offered in selecting a good attorney: Have a trusted family attorney, or family friend that practices law, refer you to a criminal defense attorney. If you do not have such a resource, then you need to take heed of the following advice.

When searching for an attorney you should be focused on two things: energy and experience.  You need to find an attorney that possesses both.  You want to avoid attorneys that have graduated from law school in the last three years, because while they may have a lot of energy, their lack of experience means they will be learning to practice law with your case.  You want to avoid attorneys that have graduated more than fifty years ago, because while they may have a ton of experience, they are often unable to return phone calls or stay awake in court.

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Three day jury trial on one count of aggravated stalking, two counts of cruelty to children and one count of family violence battery resulted in NOT GUILTY on all charges

CASE: State of Georgia v. Marcus McKenzie Cherry (10B-5431-8) 

RESULT: (June, 2011) Three day jury trial on one count of aggravated stalking, two counts of cruelty to children and one count of family violence battery resulted in NOT GUILTY on all charges. 

FACTS: Client meets an underage girl, who lies about her age and becomes infatuated with him, and his famous friends (recording artist Usher).  She has two children with client before she realizes that she will not be living the lifestyle of the rich and famous.  Being the gold digger that she is, she turns her attention to other potential suitors.  She selects her attorney-boss, and begins a relationship with him.  My client finds about his baby’s mama, whom he is living with, dating her boss, and confronts both of them.  Because the attorney-boss wants my client out of the picture, he has the “victim” take a TPO (temporary protection order) against my client.  Interestingly enough, the day after my client is arrested, the “victim” is seen driving around in her new C300 Mercedes, purchased by…You guessed it, the attorney-boss.  On February 15, 2010, which grandma (client’s mother) and the “victim” are exchanging the children, my client supposedly jumps out and punches victim in the face a number of time, right in front of the children.  The “victim” phones the police, who take photos of her injuries.  Client is arrested six months later.   

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Criminal Defense Attorney

Criminal Defense Attorney in Atlanta

QUESTION:       What should I expect in terms of a plea offer (from the prosecutor) or sentence (from the judge)?

ANSWER:         The plea offer and/or sentence is typically a function of a number of different things:

(1)   Age of the accused

(2)   Age of the victim (if there is a victim)

(3)   The criminal record (GCIC) of the accused

(4)   The nature of the offense

(5)   The quality/experience of the defense attorney

(6)   The jurisdiction where the offense occurred (Fulton County is more lenient than Butts County) 

(7)   How quickly the accused takes responsibility, especially if there are co-defendant against which the accused can testify

(8)    The judge hearing the case (some judges hate burglaries, other hate graffiti)

By Lawrence Lewis Criminal Defense Attorney in Atlanta

My husband has an outstanding background according to the County Police Department.

QUESTION:      My husband has an outstanding background according to the County Police Department.  He had the opportunity to view his background from an attorney who emailed him 20 pages of criminal activity. Of those 20 pages only 5 were actual convictions. What are the necessary steps that we need to take in order to have all of the other fabricated incidents removed.  In our rights we are innocent until PROVEN guilty. What happens when 15 charges that have been dismissed are still appearing on every background that is conducted on him?  Are not those charges that were dropped supposed to be stricken from his record? Most of the incidents were not even arrested just charges. We do believe someone was also using his name in their criminal activity.

Do all arrests stay on one’s record?  And if so, how long?  Most importantly, it is not the arrests that he`s most concerned about, it is the charges that were dismissed and the activity that he has no knowledge of that makes him out to be monster.

ANSWER:         Start here: Your husband has five convictions. Irrespective of whether he has five felony convictions, five misdemeanor convictions or a mix of both, he has five convictions. Therefore, few, if any judges, want to address correcting his NCIC (criminal history). No judge cares about removing from his record five arrests that were eventually dismissed, because your husband has five convictions.  By analogy, it is like coming home and finding that the dog has chewed on all of your shoes and pissed on the couch. You are mad. Then your neighbor explains that everyone`s house on the block except yours has been burglarized.  Are you grateful for the dog at that moment, or are you still mad about the shoes and the couch?  Your husband has prior arrests, where the system worked, and charges were dismissed.  Few judges are going to help you expunge his record of dismissed charges, because he has a hard time finding work, because the judge knows that your husband may have committed the charges but the prosecutor could not put the case together. The point is the system worked, just like the dog in protecting your house. However, the system is clearly imperfect, like the dog chewing your shoes, because if it were perfect (perfect prosecutor, perfect witnesses) your husband might have nine convictions. I suspect that the question stems from his inability to find a good paying job. However, it is not just the criminal history that is preventing him from getting a job, it is the attitude and behavior that leads to 12 of 15 arrests (remember some were not him) and five convictions that prevents him from finding meaningful work. I also suspect that because he cannot find meaningful work, you will not be able to afford the attorney that could clear up ten arrests that either were not your husband or were dismissed. I would charge about $ 25,000, because I would have to research every offense and pull fingerprint cards and police reports. It is crazy amount of work. I wish you the best of luck.

Answered By Lawrence Lewis - Criminal Defense Attorney

Can I trust my public defender?

Q: Can I trust my public defender?

A: MAYBE, it depends on your level of maturity.  There are a number of reasons the system does not work.

THE TOP FIVE REASONS THE PUBLIC DEFENDER SYSTEM DOES NOT WORK

When a criminal defendant indicates that he is unable to afford an attorney, the judge will often appoint an attorney.  This court appointed attorney represents the defendant at a minimal cost, often just the cost of appointment, which is currently fifty dollars ($50) in Georgia.  Irrespective of whether the indigent criminal defendant is represented by the public defender, court appointed counsel (private attorney that agrees to take court appointed work), or a conflict defender, the relationship is often strained, and the system fails to work.  There are a number of reasons the system does not work:

(5) Clients arrested for criminal offenses have poor judgment.  This should be no real surprise.  Some poor choice has led to the arrest.  Either the criminal client has elected to knowingly participate in criminal activity, OR associate with others who he knows frequently engage in criminal activity.  Either the criminal client has deliberately placed himself in a dangerous locale, OR has followed some friend to a den of iniquity.  I have yet to represent the honor student on his way home from chemistry lab that gets caught up in the drug raid.  I am sure some attorney has, just not me.  Irrespective of how the arrest occurred, the client often gave the officer arresting him plenty of reason to arrest him.

After he is arrested and assigned an attorney to represent him, the criminal client begins the relationship by referring to the court appointed attorney has a “public pretender” or “free lawyer”.  Only an insane person would think it is a good idea to insult the only person standing between the criminal client and a lengthy prison sentence, and justify the insult as a means of motivating the attorney to do more on his case than the next defendant. 

The public defender (aka court appointed attorney) is analogous to public transportation.  When you have no private automobile, the bus will get you there.  It will not pick you up at your door step, or drop you at the front door of your destination.  It may require you to wait before it arrives, and require that you stand during the trip.  It may take longer to get to your destination because other stops must be made.  However, it does get you to your destination, and it is much better than walking.  Similarly, the public defender knows the law, the judge and the prosecutor.  The public defender cannot spend any more time with the client than is necessary to communicate with the client.  The PD cannot be the criminal client’s friend, that is not his job.  If the client charged with a crime thinks the PD cannot properly represent him, if the PD does not get to know the client by spending five hours a week with the client, then the client has poor judgment, because the PD is fighting the charges, not the allegation that the client is a bad person, of low morale character. 

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Criminal Defense - Felony Offense

I was charged with 3 felony counts of financial transaction card fraud and have been offered the pre-trial intervention program. Basically what happens is you plead guilty and then have to go through classes and be on probation for like 2 years and not get arrested any during that time and when its over your charges get taken off your record. That seems like a good deal because this is my first time ever being arrested but then again I do not want to plead guilty because I don`t think I am. What happened was and also what it says in my written statement is that my cousin called me once a week for about 2 months because she had been stealing her moms debit card and needed a ride to the ATM machine. So i would take her and she would get me to go inside for her because she said she didn`t want to be seen by anybody that knew her mama. So i would go inside and get how much she told me to get usually between 100 and 200 dollars and bring it back out to her then we would go to Mcdonalds and then i would drop her off and went home. She was also charged with the exact same thing, but i want to know legally am i guilty even though I did not benefit anything the whole time? And what is the best thing to do at the pre-trial intervention? Should i plead guilty and go through the program or plead not guilty and get a lawyer?


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Answered By Lawrence Lewis - Felony Offense Lawyer

Pre-Trial Hearrings - Lawrenceville Criminal Defense Attorney

A pretrial conference is a meeting of the parties to a case conducted prior to trial. The conference is held before the trial judge or a magistrate, a judicial officer who possesses fewer judicial powers than a judge. A pretrial conference may be held prior to trial in both civil and criminal cases. A pretrial conference may be requested by a party to a case, or it may be ordered by the court. Generally, the term pretrial conference is used interchangeably with the term pretrial hearing.

A pretrial conference may be conducted for several reasons: (1) expedite disposition of the case, (2) help the court establish managerial control over the case, (3) discourage wasteful pretrial activities, (4) improve the quality of the trial with thorough preparation, and (5) facilitate a settlement of the case.

Pretrial conferences are conducted in criminal cases to decide matters that do not inquire into the defendant's guilt or innocence.   In Georgia, state courts use the pretrial conference in criminal cases to decide such preliminary matters as what evidence will be excluded from trial and what witnesses will be allowed to testify.  The pretrial conference is where the defense attorney has the opportunity to argue any motions to exclude certain prejudicial evidence (i.e. motions to suppress).
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Criminal Defense Attorney - Lawrenceville Felony Offense Lawyers

Calendar Call

Jury trials are a logistical nightmare.  The prosecutor must gather all of the state’s witnesses, each of whom has his own life, employment issues and childcare issues.  The defense must gather all of the defense witnesses, some of whom must come from outside of the state.  The judge, with the help of the bailiffs, must make sure all of the jurors appear in court to hear the testimony of all of the witnesses.  The court reporter must be present to take everything down.  So, she can create a transcript later.  The sheriff is present to provide security in the courtroom, and make sure anyone needed from the jail is transported.  If anyone is missing, everything grinds to a halt.  Jury trials are a logistical nightmare.

Because of the logistical demands of a jury trial, courts have created court dates known as calendar calls, where criminal cases are called to court, so all attorneys (prosecutors and defense attorneys) can announce if they are actually ready for a jury trial.  If the prosecutor or defense attorney is not ready to go to trial, the attorney must explain why they are not ready to go to trial, and when they might expect to be ready to go to trial.  If all parties are ready for jury trial, the judge will either tell all of the parties: (1) report for jury trial on a date certain; or (2) they are on-call, which means they should be ready in the event that the cases which have actually been called in for trial resolve themselves short of jury trial.

Typically, once a case has been placed on the trial calendar, it will be called in every month for calendar call, which means the defense attorney and client/defendant will have to appear each month to announce ready for jury trial, until the case is over.  Failure to appear at any one of these calendar calls will result in a bench warrant for the client/defendant.


Criminal Defense Attorney in Gwinnett County - - 

Arraignment

The arraignment can occur anywhere between three months and eighteen months after the arrest.  At the arraignment, the charges against the accused will be read to the accused by the judge or prosecutor, unless an attorney waives reading of the complaint.  Afterwards the accused will enter a plea or GUILTY or NOT GUILTY.  Sometimes, the judge will address representation at the arraignment.  So, the case will not be delayed.


Criminal Defense Attorney - Traffic Citation Lawyer

Criminal records expungement background checks

QUESTION:      My husband has an outstanding background according to the County Police Department.  He had the opportunity to view his background from an attorney who emailed him 20 pages of criminal activity. Of those 20 pages only 5 were actual convictions. What are the necessary steps that we need to take in order to have all of the other fabricated incidents removed.  In our rights we are innocent until PROVEN guilty. What happens when 15 charges that have been dismissed are still appearing on every background that is conducted on him?  Are not those charges that were dropped supposed to be stricken from his record? Most of the incidents were not even arrested just charges. We do believe someone was also using his name in their criminal activity.

Do all arrests stay on one’s record?  And if so, how long?  Most importantly, it is not the arrests that he`s most concerned about, it is the charges that were dismissed and the activity that he has no knowledge of that makes him out to be monster.

ANSWER:         Start here: Your husband has five convictions. Irrespective of whether he has five felony convictions, five misdemeanor convictions or a mix of both, he has five convictions. Therefore, few, if any judges, want to address correcting his NCIC (criminal history). No judge cares about removing from his record five arrests that were eventually dismissed, because your husband has five convictions.  By analogy, it is like coming home and finding that the dog has chewed on all of your shoes and pissed on the couch. You are mad. Then your neighbor explains that everyone`s house on the block except yours has been burglarized.  Are you grateful for the dog at that moment, or are you still mad about the shoes and the couch?  Your husband has prior arrests, where the system worked, and charges were dismissed.  Few judges are going to help you expunge his record of dismissed charges, because he has a hard time finding work, because the judge knows that.....

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Answered by Lawrence Lewis - Criminal Defense Lawyer - Criminal Defense Attorney

How do I select a good criminal defense attorney?

February 2011 will mark the start of my twelfth year as a criminal defense attorney.  I spent the first four and a half years, after graduating from Cornell Law School, working as a state prosecutor, both in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Atlanta, Georgia. The last eleven years, I have defended individuals accused of all types of crimes.  During those fifteen years, I worked an average of seventy hours a week, and saw my fair share of justice and lunacy. 

If you have been arrested and/or charged with a criminal offense, you are about to enter the arcane world of criminal law. My first piece of advice in selecting a good criminal defense attorney is similar to the advice offered in selecting a good attorney: Have a trusted family attorney, or family friend that practices law, refer you to a criminal defense attorney. If you do not have such a resource, then you need to take heed of the following advice. 

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Criminal Defense Attorneys in Lawrenceville Gwinnette County

DEPOSIT ACCOUNT FRAUD – FORGERY – FINANCIAL IDENTITY FRAUD

In these tough economic times, some folks have acted in desperation, writing checks for goods and services either hoping there will be enough money to cover the check, or worse, knowing there is not enough money in their accounts to cover the checks.  Most don’t realize that writing a bad check is a criminal offense, and that more and more businesses receiving those bad checks are pursuing criminal warrants.  Unlike violent crime (e.g. armed robbery, aggravated battery), “paper crimes” are often viewed as less serious offenses.  Nonetheless, prosecutors are recommending, and judges are handing out, steep penalties, including substantial jail time for individuals convicted of paper crimes.  Often times the severity of the sentence depends on: (1) the criminal offense at issue; (2) the number of prior convictions for paper crimes; and (3) the amount of money involved.


If you have been charged with a paper crime and you would like to speak with a qualified criminal defense attorney, call an experienced paper crime defense lawyer or attorney at Lawrence Lewis, P.C. today at (678) 407-9300. 


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