Mailing Address: PO Box 956, Georgetown, TX 78627-0956
Voice: (512) 869-0131
Fax: (512) 692-1904
ARE YOU ACCUSED OF A CRIME?
There are many things you should know about the legal process if you are accused of a crime.....
The police officer and/or the police detective who are investigating your case are NOT your friends. The prosecutor (district attorney or county attorney) is NOT your friend.
It is almost always a bad idea to speak to anyone who works for the police department or for the prosecutor's office before speaking to your own attorney or without having your own attorney present for the conversation.
You can always tell the police and prosecutors additional information later, BUT YOU CAN NEVER TAKE BACK INFORMATION THAT YOU TELL THEM BEFORE YOU CONSULTED WITH YOUR OWN ATTORNEY.
If you can afford to do so, the law requires that you hire an attorney to represent you in court if you are charged with a felony offense. The truth is that you should hire your own attorney as soon as you find out that the police are looking at you for a possible felony or misdemeanor charge. Do not wait until you are arrested. Do not wait until you are indicted.
If you hire an attorney as soon as you can, there is a chance that your attorney could help you avoid the charges altogether or else arrange to have you charged with a lesser crime than you might otherwise be charged with. You are required to have a lawyer to represent you in felony cases after the case gets to the courtroom. In Williamson County and some other Texas counties, the local judges will not make you hire an attorney to represent you in a misdemeanor case.
Just because a judge is not going to make you hire an attorney for a misdemeanor does not mean you will not benefit from hiring an experience attorney to assist you. You should also hire a lawyer to represent you in misdemeanor cases. Sometimes in misdemeanor cases, a prosecutor or bail bondsman or some acquaintance may tell you that hiring an attorney will just cost you money and will not help your case. The truth is, if you don’t hire an attorney, it may help the prosecutor’s case, and you will be more likely to pay a larger fine, to wind up in jail, or even end up spending more time in jail than if you had hired an experienced attorney to help you with your case.
Even if you are accused of "just" a misdemeanor, you need an attorney. Misdemeanor crimes in Texas can land you in jail for up to a year. Sometimes there are collateral consequences to a misdemeanor conviction or probation such as a driver's license suspension or a driver's license surcharge that your lawyer can tell you about. Misdemeanor convictions can be used against you in the future if you ever get into trouble again.
If you decide you want to speak to a police officer, a police detective, or a prosecutor, you can stop talking at any time. Anything you say in court or say to a prosecutor may be used against you.
A prosecutor’s job is to prosecute, not to give legal advice to people charged with crimes.
The judge or the prosecutor cannot give you legal advice. The judge will insist that you know the law yourself or get an attorney. My strong advice is to get an attorney.
A theft conviction (even if it is a misdemeanor) will keep you from getting a good job in the future. Many employers will never hire anyone with a theft conviction, even if it is a misdemeanor, to handle money for their business. Even if you think you are guilty, an attorney can tell you if the State’s evidence is sufficient to convict you in court. If you are charged with Theft by Check, for instance, you may think you are guilty just because you wrote the check.
If you did some sloppy bookkeeping, that does not make you a thief. I have handled many theft by check cases where there was never any intent to steal money. Many times the first time a person is aware they are charged with theft by check is when they get arrested after a traffic stop or when they go to renew their driver's license. Many people never receive anything from their bank or from the local prosecutor's hot check office telling them there is a problem with one of the checks they wrote months or even years before they get arrested.
If you change your residence and close out a checking account at approximately the same time, then the bank may never tell you that you bounced a check due to a math error or due to a problem with one of your deposits. Many times someone at the old address (an ex-wife or ex-girl friend, for instance) will simply tear up or throw away a letter from a merchant about a bad check. Ask a lawyer to help you with your case. A lawyer may be able to get your theft by check case dismissed.
If you get convicted of Assault involving Family Violence, you will never be legally allowed to possess a firearm for the rest of your life.
If you are not a U.S. citizen, being convicted of certain crimes will cause you to be deported or make it harder for you to ever become a U.S. Citizen.
A felony conviction will cost you your right to vote, your right to hold public office, and your right to possess a firearm.
A conviction for DWI or for Possession of Marijuana will suspend your driver’s license.
How an Attorney will help your case:
Your attorney will tell you if the State’s evidence in your case is enough to convict you of a crime.
Your attorney will tell you if the State's witnesses are no longer available because of the age of the case. I have had cases dismissed simply because the statute of limitations had expired for the case before formal charges were ever filed.
Your attorney will tell you if the State’s evidence against you must be thrown out of Court for some reason.
Your lawyer will tell you if the witnesses against you are believable and available to testify against you in Court.
Your lawyer will explain many Court procedures such as arraignment, plea bargaining, and appeals.
Your lawyer will tell you what a fair deal is for your case, considering your criminal history (or lack of criminal history), the facts of your case, and the policies of the local prosecutor and judge.
Remember: Everything you tell your lawyer is a secret (privileged information) that cannot be used against you. Everything you tell the police and the prosecutor is fair game to be used against you.
SHOULD YOU HIRE A LAWYER? CAN YOU AFFORD ONE?
1. If you want to have the best outcome for your case, you should talk to a lawyer.
2. You should hire an attorney as soon as you can. If you have not hired an attorney by the time of your first court appearance, the judge may give you a little more time to hire an attorney of your own choosing. The best thing to do is to hire an attorney well in advance of your first court appearance.
3. Most local lawyers charge very reasonable fees.
4. Most local lawyers will give you a free consultation.
5. Almost every local lawyer offers some type of payment plan.
6. If you cannot afford to hire an attorney, the judge must appoint a lawyer to represent you. If you claim you are indigent, the judge will let you know what financial information he will want from you to corroborate your claim of indigency. If you are able bodied and unemployed, the judge may require you to prove you are genuinely searching for a job before appointing a lawyer to represent you. If you later get probation in the case, the judge may require you to repay the county for whatever it spent on your court appointed attorney.
If you still do not think you need an attorney to represent you, when was the last time you saw a police officer who was charged with a serious crime go to court without hiring an attorney to help them? What does a police officer know about the system that you do not know? Think about it.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, CALL KEN CRAIN AT (512) 869-0131.
It is almost always a bad idea to speak to anyone who works for the police department or for the prosecutor's office before speaking to your own attorney or without having your own attorney present for the conversation.
Just because a judge is not going to make you hire an attorney for a misdemeanor does not mean you will not benefit from hiring an experience attorney to assist you. You should also hire a lawyer to represent you in misdemeanor cases. Sometimes in misdemeanor cases, a prosecutor or bail bondsman or some acquaintance may tell you that hiring an attorney will just cost you money and will not help your case. The truth is, if you don’t hire an attorney, it may help the prosecutor’s case, and you will be more likely to pay a larger fine, to wind up in jail, or even end up spending more time in jail than if you had hired an experienced attorney to help you with your case.
The judge or the prosecutor cannot give you legal advice. The judge will insist that you know the law yourself or get an attorney. My strong advice is to get an attorney.
