Dejuan N. Onley
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio
I understand that in Ohio, the court has to grant you a preliminary hearing within 15 days of being arrested for a felony charge or 10 days if you are incarcerated on that charge in lieu of bond. (R.C. 2945.71)
Short version: I was held for 19 days in jail before my prelim and forced into a diversion plea on a misdemeanor in order to get the felony dropped and get out of jail. The court ignored the above law as well as their own diversion order since one year later the felony charge is still on my record (never being bound to the grand jury or anything). I had possibly the worst public defender in the history of the US legal system (won't even return phone calls) who basically told me that "yes, this is all illegal but that's how they do things in this county." I need real advice and I need it soon. Thank you in advance. Following is the entire story:
One year ago, I was arrested on an F5 charge of "Inciting Panic" in Sandusky (Erie County) thanks to a false statement by an ex-girlfriend. The night of the incident (before being charged) I went to a hospital psychologist/psychiatrist who said I was fine and no danger to anybody. Immediately afterwards, the cops showed back up with an arrest warrant.
At arraignment, the judge ordered a bond of $5,000 (cash/surety/10%) and a psych eval before I would be released pending the preliminary hearing. The next day the hospital informed the court and the jail that I had already had a psych eval and further evaluation would be against hospital policy since they found that I was perfectly fine. Two days later I went before another judge because the first was on vacation. The judge clearly understood that I had already been cleared by the hospital, yet she refused to let me post the bond to get released because she said I still needed a psych eval. The hospital told the court AGAIN that this wasn't necessary yet they still refused to let me out. My dad tried to give them the $500 several times and they would not take the money saying I still needed a psych eval before being released! (I even called the hospital to ask them to give me a psych eval but they refused saying it was against hospital policy unless I had actually done something to threaten myself or someone else and since they saw no evidence of that, they would not do another one.)
In the meantime, I was on my second form applying for a public defender (the first apparently got lost) in jail. A public defender was finally assigned to me on day 5 or 6, yet he refused to return the 4 phone calls a day that I kept placing to his office. I never got to speak to my lawyer ONCE during all this time. 18 days after being arrested (and still in jail due this impossible requirement to have a psych eval I'd already passed) I went to court for a preliminary hearing... and met my attorney for the first time in the courtroom 5 minutes before going before the judge! 10 seconds after saying "hello" the attorney tried to get me to agree to a plea bargain for an M1 misdemeanor. I told him I thought he should at least try to act like my attorney and listen to my case before talking me into copping to a plea. The judge got very upset with the public defender when he learned I had never met with the guy before that day and post-poned the prelim for one day so I could sit down with my lawyer.
When my lawyer learned the story of my case later that day and had a chance to go through the police report he told me I had a near-guarantee of beating it if I fought the charges, but he still kept trying to talk me into taking a plea just to avoid the hassle of trial seeing as I had never even been charged with anything other than a speeding ticket in my 30 years of life. I asked him about the fact that they had been holding me in jail for over two weeks without allowing me out on bond on false pretenses. He said he couldn't do anything about that (apparently Erie County can hold people indefinitely even if they are judged not to be a danger and even after a bond has been set). When I asked about my speedy trial rights he actually told me that "yes, this is a technical violation, but they do things a little different in Erie County." No joke... that is about a near-quote. Basically, he made it apparent that if I didn't at least plea to diversion on an M1, they might just hold me in jail for an indefinite period of time.
The next day (19 days after being arrested) I finally had my preliminary hearing and I signed the papers for diversion on an M1, despite the fact that my limited knowledge of criminal law told me I should have a rock-solid case. At the prelim, the judge made absolutely no mention of the psych eval, as if that had never even been an issue and he released me on OR.
Despite the fact that my attorney assured me that copping to the diversion plea would mean the felony charge would be dropped without any chance of coming back (even if I failed diversion... I asked him this several times to be certain I understood all the consequences), the felony charge is still on my record! In fact, the misdemeanor charge that was supposed to replace it doesn't show up on my record at all. It's as if the court ignored their own order.
I asked my probationary officer about this. She said that my understanding of the diversion deal was 100% accurate and that the felony had been dropped and replaced with a misdemeanor. She even told me to check with the court's website and I would see that this was accurate there. I checked the website and it confirmed what my employer's background check said... I was still being charged with the felony and there was no mention of a misdemeanor at all!!! My PO had no explanation for this.
Then they tried to get me to pay almost three times the original fees agreed upon in the deal, which I simply cannot afford. I have all the documentation (including the plea deal), so they can't deny any of this.
I've been trying to come up with the money to hire a real lawyer for this whole past year, but funds are tight around here. I have a feeling that any day now they are going to say I'm in violation of the diversion order because I can't pay and try to arrest me again on the felony charge which was "guaranteed" to be dropped no matter what.
I have had no run-ins with anyone in law enforcement this past year. I have not even been pulled over in my car. I'm just living my life and trying to pay my bills like everyone else.
I need this whole thing to go away, but I don't know what the next step is. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I should note that the issue with my record has made it impossible for me to get a higher-paying job, which only adds to the problem. Not that it matters from a legal perspective, but I'm starting to wonder if this isn't building up to a civil case (and this from a die-hard conservative who never considered suing anybody in his life).
I understand that in Ohio, the court has to grant you a preliminary hearing within 15 days of being arrested for a felony charge or 10 days if you are incarcerated on that charge in lieu of bond. (R.C. 2945.71)
Short version: I was held for 19 days in jail before my prelim and forced into a diversion plea on a misdemeanor in order to get the felony dropped and get out of jail. The court ignored the above law as well as their own diversion order since one year later the felony charge is still on my record (never being bound to the grand jury or anything). I had possibly the worst public defender in the history of the US legal system (won't even return phone calls) who basically told me that "yes, this is all illegal but that's how they do things in this county." I need real advice and I need it soon. Thank you in advance. Following is the entire story:
One year ago, I was arrested on an F5 charge of "Inciting Panic" in Sandusky (Erie County) thanks to a false statement by an ex-girlfriend. The night of the incident (before being charged) I went to a hospital psychologist/psychiatrist who said I was fine and no danger to anybody. Immediately afterwards, the cops showed back up with an arrest warrant.
At arraignment, the judge ordered a bond of $5,000 (cash/surety/10%) and a psych eval before I would be released pending the preliminary hearing. The next day the hospital informed the court and the jail that I had already had a psych eval and further evaluation would be against hospital policy since they found that I was perfectly fine. Two days later I went before another judge because the first was on vacation. The judge clearly understood that I had already been cleared by the hospital, yet she refused to let me post the bond to get released because she said I still needed a psych eval. The hospital told the court AGAIN that this wasn't necessary yet they still refused to let me out. My dad tried to give them the $500 several times and they would not take the money saying I still needed a psych eval before being released! (I even called the hospital to ask them to give me a psych eval but they refused saying it was against hospital policy unless I had actually done something to threaten myself or someone else and since they saw no evidence of that, they would not do another one.)
In the meantime, I was on my second form applying for a public defender (the first apparently got lost) in jail. A public defender was finally assigned to me on day 5 or 6, yet he refused to return the 4 phone calls a day that I kept placing to his office. I never got to speak to my lawyer ONCE during all this time. 18 days after being arrested (and still in jail due this impossible requirement to have a psych eval I'd already passed) I went to court for a preliminary hearing... and met my attorney for the first time in the courtroom 5 minutes before going before the judge! 10 seconds after saying "hello" the attorney tried to get me to agree to a plea bargain for an M1 misdemeanor. I told him I thought he should at least try to act like my attorney and listen to my case before talking me into copping to a plea. The judge got very upset with the public defender when he learned I had never met with the guy before that day and post-poned the prelim for one day so I could sit down with my lawyer.
When my lawyer learned the story of my case later that day and had a chance to go through the police report he told me I had a near-guarantee of beating it if I fought the charges, but he still kept trying to talk me into taking a plea just to avoid the hassle of trial seeing as I had never even been charged with anything other than a speeding ticket in my 30 years of life. I asked him about the fact that they had been holding me in jail for over two weeks without allowing me out on bond on false pretenses. He said he couldn't do anything about that (apparently Erie County can hold people indefinitely even if they are judged not to be a danger and even after a bond has been set). When I asked about my speedy trial rights he actually told me that "yes, this is a technical violation, but they do things a little different in Erie County." No joke... that is about a near-quote. Basically, he made it apparent that if I didn't at least plea to diversion on an M1, they might just hold me in jail for an indefinite period of time.
The next day (19 days after being arrested) I finally had my preliminary hearing and I signed the papers for diversion on an M1, despite the fact that my limited knowledge of criminal law told me I should have a rock-solid case. At the prelim, the judge made absolutely no mention of the psych eval, as if that had never even been an issue and he released me on OR.
Despite the fact that my attorney assured me that copping to the diversion plea would mean the felony charge would be dropped without any chance of coming back (even if I failed diversion... I asked him this several times to be certain I understood all the consequences), the felony charge is still on my record! In fact, the misdemeanor charge that was supposed to replace it doesn't show up on my record at all. It's as if the court ignored their own order.
I asked my probationary officer about this. She said that my understanding of the diversion deal was 100% accurate and that the felony had been dropped and replaced with a misdemeanor. She even told me to check with the court's website and I would see that this was accurate there. I checked the website and it confirmed what my employer's background check said... I was still being charged with the felony and there was no mention of a misdemeanor at all!!! My PO had no explanation for this.
Then they tried to get me to pay almost three times the original fees agreed upon in the deal, which I simply cannot afford. I have all the documentation (including the plea deal), so they can't deny any of this.
I've been trying to come up with the money to hire a real lawyer for this whole past year, but funds are tight around here. I have a feeling that any day now they are going to say I'm in violation of the diversion order because I can't pay and try to arrest me again on the felony charge which was "guaranteed" to be dropped no matter what.
I have had no run-ins with anyone in law enforcement this past year. I have not even been pulled over in my car. I'm just living my life and trying to pay my bills like everyone else.
I need this whole thing to go away, but I don't know what the next step is. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I should note that the issue with my record has made it impossible for me to get a higher-paying job, which only adds to the problem. Not that it matters from a legal perspective, but I'm starting to wonder if this isn't building up to a civil case (and this from a die-hard conservative who never considered suing anybody in his life).
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