Case Dismissed..Do I still owe the attorney?

What is the name of your state? CT
I was arrested in November 2000 for Attempted Murder, Because I left the location at the same time of the victim....
I had to pay 15,000 cash to bond out...then I had to hire an attorney.....
The state had NO case against me....
The attorney told me that it would cost $15,000.00 to handle the case all the way through trial....
In April of 2002---We picked the jury
The following week..the state threw the case out (DISMISSED by the judge for lack of evidence)...
I already paid the attorney 7500.00
and he is billing me for 7500.00. Is there any law regarding a case being dismissed...?
And also, I don't understand why I would still owe the whole 15,000 when we didn't proceed with the trial..
Please advise

[stephenk]

Did you ask your attorney?

[abezon]

When you retained the attorney, you signed a fee agreement. Read it. this is actually a contract dispute, not a criminal matter. How much of the fee is refundable? Does the refund depend on how far the trial gets?

You may also want to check with the state bar association or whatever agency handles complaints about attorneys.

You hired the attorney for that price, therefore you have to pay that price , win or lose, long trial or short. I don't know if you did this but at the time this happened, you could have sued the state for defamation of character and false arrest--surely would've paid your bills. There is a statute of limitations for this which you most likely expired.