Rehearsing the witness

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? TX

My lawyer made the claim that I cannot meet him to prepare for upcoming jury trial. I asked to go over his plan of attack, give him background information, and tell him what questions to ask myself and the victim. He claims that he does not do this and the only thing pertenant to my case is the incident itself. He claims that if I was to meet him that the prosecution would say he rehearsed the witness.

I think he is absolutly full of crap and simply does not want to do any work.

Can I please get a legal defintion of "rehearsing the witness?"

As I understand it, rehearsing the witness is preperation of a STORY, by the lawyer with a witness. Going over the truth is completely legal and routine. Does my lawyer think I am a moron?

I have never heard of anyone hiring a lawyer and going blindly into a trial.

How does he even expect to know what happened? Much less what questions to ask? He just claims I'll give my side and the victim thiers. There is so much more to a criminal case then the 10 minutes before the police were called!

Sounds like you watch waaaay too much Law & Order.

, and tell him what questions to ask myself and the victim

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why have you hired a lawyer if you want to ask the questions?


If you don't like what your lawyer is doing, fire him and get another one.

justalayman said:

why have you hired a lawyer if you want to ask the questions?

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I've hired a lawyer for the simple reason that the court will object to and throw out your witnesses and evidence if it is not submitted properly. He is also needed to follow all the rules and guidelines for filing motions. That is all. I suppose I would be better off doing this myself, because it doesn't seem like he is even interested in getting any evidence submitted or questioning any witnesses at all. So what work is there to do exactly? Sit around opening my P.O box and collecting money?

I guarantee I can do a better job of asking questions, gathering evidence, and witnesses. I know what happened! He does not! How can anyone defend anything when they don't even know what happened? Please enlighten me?

justalayman said:

If you don't like what your lawyer is doing, fire him and get another one

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Well, obviously this is an option. I would like to be damn sure of what I am doing before I go blowing another 10k. Us common people don't come across that kind of money all that easily.

then you should not have hired an attorney to represent you but hired one to file motions and provide procedural direction only.

justalayman said:

then you should not have hired an attorney to represent you but hired one to file motions and provide procedural direction only.

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And the difference in this case is what?
What specifically is he doing to "represent me?" If he won't go over the trial, won't subpeona evidence, won't subpeona witnesses, what is left for him to do?

Can you answer my question rather than question my motives? What is the official legal defintion of "Rehearsing the witness?"

You sound like you want to control the events and the method of the defense, not him. If the funds are coming for your pocket, he would I would think him almost certainly be willing to meet with you (in some places it's called "prepping" the witness) because he could bill you for it. If he does not want to meet with you, perhaps there is some good reasons behind that decision.

If the matter is a simple incident, then it might be that he wants to keep it simple and not want to give you too much rope to hang yourself or give the prosecutor any ammo to say he coached you on what to say and how to say it.

Could he also be afraid that you might lie? He cannot suborn perjury and if you tell him what "really" happened, and then testify to something else, he's in for some potential trouble.

If you feel that he is not adequately representing you, seek a continuance and hire a new attorney.

CdwJava said:

Could he also be afraid that you might lie? He cannot suborn perjury and if you tell him what "really" happened, and then testify to something else, he's in for some potential trouble.
.

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a friend told me: I do not want to know if my client is guilty or not. It doesn't matter. My job it to require the prosecution to prove my client is guilty. Once my client tells me he is guilty, I cannot put him on the stand and allow him to claim to be innocent.

the attorney can coach, prep, counsel, and anything else but the more he does, the more it allows the prosecution to use that against you. Yes, the prosecution will claim your attorney might have suggested "proper" answers and "improper" answers. Even if there was no such help, accusing you and your attorney of doing such is damaging in itself.

justalayman said:

a friend told me: I do not want to know if my client is guilty or not. It doesn't matter. My job it to require the prosecution to prove my client is guilty. Once my client tells me he is guilty, I cannot put him on the stand and allow him to claim to be innocent.

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That is one reason I am told that some defense attorneys will not ask a client about what really happened.

I don't want him to coach me or tell me anything to say. I want to tell him what to ask! I also want to be 100% positive he has a clear picture of what happened.

I've already paid a flat fee for all his expenses including the trial. So in my opinion, when a lawyer agrees to "represent you to the best of his ability", which was on his contract, that includes prepping for the trial.

If I want to subpeona evidence, he should go out and subpeona it. I don't give two poops if he likes it or not. I am the one that gets to sit in jail. He gets paid either way.

I should be able to ask my lawyer, "Where was I when the incident occured" and he should be able to answer "You were in the bedroom with the candlestick"

If my lawyer goes into court and says "Well, he just has a small skirmish with a chainsaw while she had the golf club, but it didn't hurt anyone.", when in reality I never touched anyone with anything anywhere, than I am screwed! And that sounds almost exactly like what is going to happen.

Meanwhile, since he is defending me, I have to sit there with my mouth shut, while he sails me up the river?

What is there to keep simple? I am charged with a violent crime, when the victim has a history of violence and I have none. The victim has prescriptions for psychotic medications, but these aren't relevant somehow? bull****. I have witnesses that have seen her in violent outbursts, but we shouldn't bother with them? bull****. This to me sounds like "I want to sit on my ass and count the money you gave me, while I feed you excuses for not doing any work."

I am the client, I am the paying party, I am the one at risk of jail time. If I insist on something for my defense, than what right does my lawyer have to deny me that?

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Ok, fine and good if he doesn't want to hear my story in case I really did something. However, I did nothing and there is absolutly zero risk of him hearing anything else. If I tell him that and I lie, than it is my fault and I suffer the consequences. He gets my money either way.

There is so much more to a criminal case then the 10 minutes before the police were called!

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Sometimes, but only in complex situations. Most criminal trials are far simpler.

While you may want to explain your actions, that is for mitigation of penalties, not for if you were guilty or not. I think that unless you have a lot of money, you will have a problem finding an attorney who will satisfy you.

I do understand your angst in this but the bottom line is; you hired him to represent you. You hired him for his expertise to defend you. You either need to allow him to work the way he does or fire him and retain another lawyer. He is not going to allow you to script the trial.

Sounds to me like you need to get another attorney if this one is not catering to your wishes and desires. I mean, darn those years of law school!

Yes, he may be doing a substandard job. But, there may well be some good reasons for not doing what you want him to do. Boring juries with extraneous crud is often not a good idea. Her use or non use of medication and psychotic episodes may have no bearing on the current incident. What she may have done in the past may not even be permitted in as evidence at all. If you show she had violent outbursts, the prosecution will also get these witnesses to say that she was sweetness and light most of the time, too. Not everything is as you might think it is.

But, if your attorney is not performing to your standards, ask for the balance of your retainer back (if he'll give it to you) and hire new counsel. But, before you hire that new counsel tell him how YOU want the trial to go so that he knows what he or she is getting in for ... then see if he or she still wants your money.

Good luck.

tranquility said:

Sometimes, but only in complex situations. Most criminal trials are far simpler.

While you may want to explain your actions, that is for mitigation of penalties, not for if you were guilty or not. I think that unless you have a lot of money, you will have a problem finding an attorney who will satisfy you.

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You guys aren't understanding. I don't want to explain my actions. I had no actions to explain.

I want to provide evidence that the supposed victim took actions, has taken actions before, and is prone to such actions.

At the very least, I want my lawyer to know what happened.

I do not want to scipt anything, explain anything that I did, or anything like that.


I want to tell my lawyer, "Hey, they charged me with speeding in Austin Texas. However, I was in Houston at the time and have witnesses that will testify to that. In fact, I don't even own the car that goes with that license plate. Nor do I match the description of the person the ticket was written to. My girlfriend owns the red toyota and it is registered to her! She was driving that day."

brekehan said:

You guys aren't understanding. I don't want to explain my actions. I had no actions to explain.

I want to provide evidence that the supposed victim took actions, has taken actions before, and is prone to such actions.

At the very least, I want my lawyer to know what happened.

I do not want to scipt anything, explain anything that I did, or anything like that.


I want to tell my lawyer, "Hey, they charged me with speeding in Austin Texas. However, I was in Houston at the time and have witnesses that will testify to that. In fact, I don't even own the car that goes with that license plate. Nor do I match the description of the person the ticket was written to. My girlfriend owns the red toyota and it is registered to her! She was driving that day."

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And what everyone here is saying is that if your attorney is not doing what you think he should be doing, get a new attorney. Or, ask that he explain to you why he will not do it. If you do not like his answers get a new attorney and consider making a claim for a pro-rated refund if your retainer (if that might even be possible).