6th amendmant rule

[jayceisback]

What is the name of your state?nj

As I have viewed the 6th amenment rule as far as the right to a speedy trial i have some question which i hope can be answered.
What exactly is a speedy trial?
Reason being is it has been 7 years almost and I have not been convicted.
I took a plea bargain and I am to be sentenced in January with a 5 with a 3 stipulation.
The lawyer that I have is a pool lawyer several years ago when I asked him for a speedy trial motion he said do not worry about it the longer you wait the better. It was by his legal advice and his alone that I did not push the situation.
Now here I am 29 engauged and up the creek with out a paddle.
I want to take the plea back but I need to know if this is the proper thing to do. I have serched for lawyers that strictlt deal with 6th amendment issues with a strong head on thier shoulders but to no avail.
I have never postponed any proceeding except 1 time when my car broke down I got there but I was late and the judge had me come in the next day. That is the only time.
Fummy thing is that my lawyer has me fill out a plea agreement and does not even know how much time I have been in jail because he had to be in Camden on another case 45 minutes from when he arrived to see me.
When I tried to have him removed for improper advice or lack of it his boss persay the head of public defenders office said it was to late......
When is it ever to late?
I thought we were guarenteed the right to fair and proper counsel?
In reguards to my Miranda hearing the judge ruled in my favor and I quote"The interview of the defendant was without the benefit of audio or video recording. In passing, I must comment that this practice appently is continuing and is troublesome to me"
later he says "I find beyond a reasonable doubt that no person would doubt this interview was custodial in nature, as a result, Mr. @@@@ was entitled to be mirandarized."
Which I wasn't as you can see. Also contained in the letter the judge in his own way says that the detectives lied while on the stand.
I need to know of any lawyers who might want to defend myself if I take the plea back.
Email me back and I will be more then happy to call u back at your earliest convience.
Thank you for your time and happy holidays to all,
jayceisback
p.s. I have no prior convictions before this case that is almost 7 years old. In retrospect in my view it is like trying to convict a 11 year old when he is 18.

[Florid-aise]

Your post says many interesting things. Speedy Trial is a U.S. Constitution right - which applies even in NJ. Getting it to apply is the task at hand. I do not not NJ law, but the general principle of the activation of speedy trial rights, are dependant upon the defendant (or even defendant's attorney) being ready to go to trial, or in other ways, NOT causing or NOT having attributable to the defense table, any delays in the criminal proceedings as a whole. Should the defendant or defense counsel delay or extend the proceedings in some way, may be sufficient to trigger a "waiver" of the right to a speedy trial. Even with that waiver, it still may need to have been a "knowing and intelligent" waiver.

This entire story of yours of a 7 year delay should be of interest to us all. You post that you took a plea bargain, but you did not say when during this 7 years that you took this plea bargain. That would be important information for those here who might steer you better.

As one other general rule, anything - everything - all things, which concern you with regards to your attorney's help or of failing or refusing to follow your instructions or requests - should be made part of the record at the earliest opportunity, and in the most detail allowed. In other words, insist on instructing the judge, not the public defender's boss, of your concerns of how your attorney is handling your case - on the record- spoken out loud - verbally. It might be of interest to the trial court that you instructed your attorney to file a speedy trial motion, for example.

So, being no help here, the best I found is the link below.

Click on the link, then click the "Criminal Court Services Unit", and see if there can be any help for you there.



[url]http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/criminal/[/url]

"The Criminal Court Services Unit generally tracks and reports on case movement, helping to ensure the constitutional right to a speedy trial is preserved."

[jayceisback]

I took my plea on 9/08/2004, I am to be sentenced on January 7th 2005. I asked that I be sentenced after the holidays so I could take care of some medical problems that I did not have 7 years ago persay. (dental work and pehaps a cancerous tumor on my lower back) Needless to say here is more if you need more.

I had 2 co-defendents in my case I was the only one that made bail becase they had murder charges against them. I was never charged in reguards to that crime. Funny thing is in reguards to them they got convicted without any physical evidence (not even a small hair). So by myself being friends with them they gave me a lot of charges.Here is another quote from my Lawyer (If the have enough **** on you something is bound to stick) Thant is real comforting with my life on the line. And when I was to go to trial my Lawyer calls me and says 2 weeks before trial okay what witnesses do I need. (now ponder this it has been what 6 years now and he wants to know 2 weeks before trial on how to secure witnesses? Odd don't u think. After 7 years the people that I could have even called in reguards to all this how would I know where they live where they went or any of that? I asked my lawyer for expert witnesses for the drug charge... He says why would we wanna do that? If he is my lawyer and I ask him for witnesses and he is compelled in some way to say no. Why do I have him?
Also here is something to make you ponder something really hard. How in gods green earth did they convict someone of murder in less then a week?
I watch court TV all the time it is very informative indeed and I see crimes that are not solved ir solved years down the line.
Originally I said I had information then I recanted as soon as I received a lawyer from the public defenders office 2 weeks later. With in that time they removed me from my cell on several ocassions saysing it was a "bail hearing". NOT!
They took me to the prosectors office on 2-3 ocassions and even brought my girlfriend at the time to tell me to talk. I said I did not know anything. I can tell you now the mental stress that I went through over nothing is amazing. I even cried when I was released from jail because I could not be around people because I was in 23 hour lock down because I had a co-defendant in the jail with me. And now it takes every bit of strength I have on a day to day basis not to have a mental meltdown because I have grown to love a woman more then life itself and here I am a man now looking to have to leave for something I did when I was a kid persay in the mind.
The prosecutors for the county that I am facing time in went out-of-bounds with the thin line between good and bad. They crossed it they make it seem that if you have a badge you can do what you want. I know this sounds like I hate law enforcement and all but I do not. As a matter of fact the town I came from I was friends with a lot of the police officers there.
I had no prior convictions before this incident at all. I was always taught to respect the law now I weigh each encounter I have if any. If you have more questions please feel free to write me anytime.
Thank you and happy holidays once again 1 and all.
jayceisback

[stephenk]

"The lawyer that I have is a pool lawyer several years ago when I asked him for a speedy trial motion he said do not worry about it the longer you wait the better. It was by his legal advice and his alone that I did not push the situation."

You should be sure your attorney did not waive your right to a speedy trial. If he did, you have no recourse.

Why enter the plea if your statement was not going to be admitted? How much more did the prosecution have against you?

[jayceisback]

what do you mean what else do they have against me? As far as winesses they have 1 winess to the drug charge. What I am trying to see is get the problem resolved by the 6th amendment. I see that there are rules with the federal system and right to speedy trial various from state to state. But I have never seen 1 case law that I could even make a foundation on in new jersey that would give me the grounds for a dismissal of charges in this case.
In pennsylvania I came across the 6th amendment being invoked after 120 days but that was d.u.i. offense and that being low on the totum persay I did not follow the case and it being from another state I did not persue the case after that.
I do not wanna be considered a star as my lawyer said in reguards to a judge resolving a case.
The drug was 40 dollars of marijuana that I am being charged with. That is all.
I was told first offense with a drug charge is a min. of three years. Seems rather harsh at that. (mind you I am far from a advocate of drugs, but also have done some research as far as the people being incarsirated as first time offenders. and the numbers are staggering)
link is as follows:

[url]http://www.writeaprisoner.com/prisoner-statistics.htm[/url]

But all and all I was seeing what I needed to do to envoke the 6th amendment and have a fair judgement in reguards to a slow.... tourtoise like proceedure that has taken almost 7 yeras of my life away. So again I am inquiring what can I do in reguards to this. I was pressured into the plea and I am hoping it is not to late. I would gladly give my life for a fair shot at the speedy trial motion. Well that you all so far for you responses thus far. And i hope that your holidays were great and plentiful. Hope to hear from you soon.

jayceisback

[Florid-aise]

Pay attention. You can get all of this all straightened-out (possibly to your complete satisfaction) through the appeals process if you choose to. The time the verdict comes down in your favor may be somewhere between 5 and maybe 7 years, if you are lucky. Wanna wait that long? If you do, then do nothing further and accept the plea deal already made and handle your case from the "inside".

IF - You want a different result in less time than that**************.your best chance is at the trial court level. Your best chances throughout the appeals process comes as a result of the record created at the trial level anyhow.

Either way, voice all of your concerns of mishandling of your case by your attorney - your being "pressured" to enter into a plea agreement - that there is no evidence that the prosecution has that can sustain a conviction - that you no longer want this plea arrangement, all of that, not most of that**************..at the trial court level.

You will wish every day you are in prison that you had done so, if you do not.

If it were me, and I were facing the time that you are, and I had these past seven years to prepare for this upcoming sentencing day....I would be able to answer questions on this forum, rather than ask them.

[jayceisback]

Thank you for your reply. I will be working on a letter on Tuesday when I have time to do everything in sequential order from unreturned phone calls to myslef receiveing a phone call 2 weeks before my trial to get witnesses. (yeah after 6 years and me living in another state I am so sure they still live at home with mom and dad lol)
I keep hearing that there is a statue of limiitation from people that says only 5 years from the date of arrect to conviction. I am no lawyere bound person persay but is there any truth to that fact?
I mean what judge in thier right mind would allow a process like this to go on for so long . And who is watching over this other then God himself. I have seen no due process throughout this in any way shape or form. Like i said I have never ever asked for a post-ponment. I always spoke on my own behalf during my bail hearings and I thought that I would have had this resolved several years ago before I became a 29 year old man not a 22 year old adolencent at heart.
My case is so messed up and I was never able to afford a good lawyer persay. Ever darn time i tried to get ahold of my lawyer he was on "another case". He even said that tye reason why he does not call me back when I ask is because it takes up to much of his time and he has to set a "block of time to the side for me". Everytime that I have talked to him weather I was in jail or out of jail he is always rushed for something else. He deals with a lot of capital cases and all, but shouldn't my case and my life be treated in the same way as a life or death situation. I do not wanna become institutionalized where I am a repeat offender becaus that is all I know. Through all of this I have maintained a full time job to show that I am a working man of society and I am trying to contribute to soceity not live off of it through welfare and such.
I have a good job and I wanna pay a good lawyer whatever I can. i just need someone outthere to hear me out and see and believe in me and the 6th amendment. And see that the county that has these charges against me is not as "law abiding or following the rules as we as people belive in our law enforcement".
Thank you all for your responses and I hope to hear from more of you. (everyone has a destiny persay and being a prisoner is not mine)
thank you again Florid-aise.
jayceisback

[jayceisback]

I am working on the letter that I wish to send to the judge the prosecutor as well as my lawyer. In the letter I will give the reasons on why i am taking the plea back. And hopefully showing the judge on why I need another lawyer. If I need to pay a lawyer so be it no problem here because this is so ridiculous in this constant battle over 7 years. As i said before and I will say again never did I post-pone any of this it was always the prosecutors delaying over and over again.
With me taking back the plea that can not be used as a poist ponment on my part can it?
And as far as it being almost 7 years is there nothing that can be given as far as a legal form either forcing or otherwise the judge or the court to drop the charges with the 6th amendment. Because pretty much the guarantee that is there is gone I have no way of getting the witnesses i need after this amount of time and me being in another state.
Thank you all again for your help and feed back it is greatly apprecitated.
jayceisback
p.s. If anyone has any good case laws that I might beable to read over and quote perhaps in my letter that would help greatly as well.