Criminal Defense Attorney in Atlanta

Question: What is purpose of commit hearing and what evidence should be presented?

Answer: The preliminary hearing typically occurs between ten and fourteen days after arrest.  A preliminary hearing (also known as a “probable cause” hearing, or “commitment” hearing) is a proceeding where the prosecutor must establish in court that they have enough evidence to detain the individual on the filed charges (i.e. warrant).  The hearing is designed primarily for the benefit of those incarcerated individuals who have been unable to post bond, to ensure that they are not held in jail on unfounded charges.  However, individuals out on bond are also permitted to request a preliminary hearing, and as a general rule an attorney should request one in almost every felony case regardless of whether the defendant is in jail.

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Criminal Defense Attorney in Atlanta

Question: How to do I appeal my case and get tried as a first offender?

Answer: An appeal means you have been convicted. You appeal the case my retaining an appellate attorney. You do not get tried as a first offender. If you get convicted, the judge has the discretion to sentence you as a first offender. If you have been convicted and the judge refused to sentence you as a first offender, there is no appeal to his decision to NOT sentence you as a first offender, IT IS TOTALLY up to the trial judge. 

Answered By Lawrence Lewis - Criminal Defense Attorney in Atlanta

Criminal Defense Attorney in Atlanta

Question: In the state of Georgia, if one is required to pay a cash bond for pretrial release, and does, can additional conditions be applied to that bond? I.e. probation, random drug screening, random times and dates required for appearances to a probation officer. Keeping in mind there are no prior convictions.

Answer: How can a person report to a probation officer when they are paying a cash bond? You got that all wrong. The person is being put on a pre-trial release, because they do not have all of the money to make a cash bond. In which case, all sort of conditions can be added to the bond. Why? Because the person has not proven themselves responsible enough to be able to have money for a bond. So, prior convictions do not matter. We are in the US, where cash is king. 

Answered by Lawrence Lewis Criminal Defense Attorney in Atlanta

Criminal Defense Attorney in Atlanta

Question: My fiance and I were charged with  misdemeanor animal cruelty charges, because one of our dogs buckets wasn't clean enough, one dog has used the bathroom in his kennel and we hadn't had time to clean it that morning and when he spilled his water it made it look as if it hadn't been cleaned in days, we had one dog who we told them had health problems and wasn't in the best condition, but because we didn't take her to the vet, we were treating her at home, they said it was animal cruelty. The party who pressed charges against, I personally have negative history with. The judge basically looked over their evidence and judged us by what they had to say and didn't believe anything we said. We were both given a 1000 fine, 1 yr on probation, and 30 days jail time, which we have to do 8 days a month for 4 months. The jail time is causing a hardship on my job and with my children. Our public defender had us enter a blind plea under nolo contender. Am I able to appeal the jail time or ask for other arrangements?

Answer: You entered a plea and were found guilty. You can file a motion to modify sentence and ask for a modification of the sentence. However, there is no appeal to the sentence after a guilty plea. Good luck.

Answered by Lawrence Lewis - Criminal Defense Attorney in Atlanta

Criminal Defense Attorney in Atlanta

Question: I'm going to have an open house party. What legal steps can I make to not be charged with furnishing alcohol to minors if people show up that's under 21 years of age and I don't know it? I heard that if I put a sign on the door saying must be 21 to drink I cannot be charged with furnishing alcohol to minors.

Answer: A sign will not releave you of responsibility. If you cannot control the party, you need to rethink the party.

Answered by Lawrence Lewis - Criminal Defense Attorney in Atlanta, Criminal Defense Attorney in Lawrenceville

Criminal Defense Attorney in Atlanta

Question: How many times can a person be reindicted on the same charges?

Answer: If you asking the question correctly, the answer is twice. If the charges were dismissed at the preliminary hearing, and have not reappeared, that is not a re-indictment. 

Answered By Lawrence Lewis - Criminal Defense Attorney in Atlanta

Criminal records/expungement/background checks

                            

QUESTION:         When can I get a criminal conviction expunged from my record?

ANSWER:      A felony criminal conviction, a misdemeanor criminal conviction, a 1^st offender disposition, a nolo plea, an Alford v. North Carolina plea, and a conditional discharge will not be expunged from your record.

Criminal Defense Attorney in Atlanta

Criminal Defense Attorney in Atlanta

Question: How to do I appeal my case and get tried as a first offender?

Answer: An appeal means you have been convicted. You appeal the case my retaining an appellate attorney. You do not get tried as a first offender. If you get convicted, the judge has the discretion to sentence you as a first offender. If you have been convicted and the judge refused to sentence you as a first offender, there is no appeal to his decision to NOT sentence you as a first offender, IT IS TOTALLY up to the trial judge. 

Answered By Lawrence Lewis - Criminal Defense Attorney in Atlanta

Plea deals/sentences

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)

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Criminal Defense Attorney in Atlanta

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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Criminal Defense Attorney in Atlanta

Question:  Does a warrant for simple battery have a statute of limitation if not what should I do to take case if it from 2008?

Answer: A warrant has no statute of limitations. You should retain an attorney to assist you in the case. Or just go to any police station and turn yourself in.

Answered By Lawrence Lewis - Criminal Defense Attorney in Atlanta

I hired a contractor paid him in full never completed work the work he did was

Question: I hired a contractor paid him in full never completed work the work he did was shoddy and he sexually harassed me i feel i should be reimbursed because he robbed me of hard earned money and lied for over a month and he showed up drunk and was calling me while he was drunk i have an unlevel pool no deck and am out 3800 hundred dollars

Answer: This is not lawguru, not the vent. I would love to know the rest of the story. How did you select him? What made you go with him? Was he the cheapest? Less learned! The goal in everyone's life should be surround themselves with certain people who know what they are doing, pay them for their advice and follow their advice: a doctor, an attorney, a mechanic, and a contractor. If you are still getting ripped off in your search for any of those four, you have been wasting a lot of time and money (probably in a search for the cheapest or free). Good luck. 

Answered by Lawrence Lewis - Criminal Defense Attorney in Atlanta