plea bargaining....

[nmstorm32]

Only your security officers know whether you may or may not keep your clearance, and they may or may not be telling you the truth. They may be waiting to see if there is a conviction, in essence letting the case work through the process, before adjudicating your situation. I am skeptical you will keep your clearance if convicted.

With your IT background however, all is not lost. There is still high demand for IT professionals throughout many areas of the US (and hopefully this includes your area). I am being earnest when I suggest that it might not hurt to get your resume together and start putting out feelers for other jobs. If you get through this thing and keep your clearance, there is no loss. If it doesn't go the way you hope, you will be one step ahead of the game.

Good luck.

You hit the nail(s) on the head again. I was put on paid leave and was told that I would stay in that position until the accusations made their way through the court system. However, 30 days later they called me back and said that I was cleared to come back to work. I am also very skeptical that I will keep my clearance if I am convicted with the only exception of maybe a misdemeanor.

The funny thing is that when I was put on paid leave I was certain that I would be terminated so I did get my resume together and applied at a couple of jobs. I got three offers in three weeks all making about as much (and in one case more) than I make now. However, benefits made the federal job better and until these charges make their way through the system, I will not pass any background check. I worry about my ability to get ANY job if I am convicted of a felony even with my excellent skill-set and background.

It's crazy because before I made these threads (I made one on the criminal board and one on the divorce board), I was a lot more confident about my situation. I thought I'd be fine with a public defender and I was confident that I could get joint custody of my three children without an attorney. After reading these two threads and the replies, my confidence in these outcomes and my situation has been shattered. I was probably being very naive so I'm glad that I created the threads I have. However, I'm going to be spending a great deal of time in thought trying to figure out how to get the money to hire TWO attorneys and work my way out of this mess I've put myself in.

 

[nmstorm32]

By the way, just to clarify. My current federal position does not have a security clearance. I didn't have to go through the secret/top secret background check (I did that while I was in the Air Force but that expired). My current position is labeled as a "position of public trust". I was told that I was put on paid leave not just for getting arrested but because of the charge of perjury. I was told that a public trust position and perjury charges were not good. But like I said, 30 days later I am happily and hopefully permanently back at work. My main reason for posting this thread was to get peoples thoughts on the chances of my negotiating down to only mesdemeanor and no felony charges. I know I can't give enough details for people to make really educated deductions but the general feel, the typical outcome, stuff like this was/is what I'm looking for.

I appreciate all the responses.

 

[dave33]

However, I'm going to be spending a great deal of time in thought trying to figure out how to get the money to hire TWO attorneys and work my way out of this mess I've put myself in.

While looking for an attorney, in your financial situation you will need to find one that can handle everything. To find one to represent you in criminal court and family court should not be to difficult. It is not uncommon to have a criminal domestic situation and the children and a custody issue get involved. I am confident several lawyers have dealt with similar situations. goodluck.

 

[nmstorm32]

While looking for an attorney, in your financial situation you will need to find one that can handle everything. To find one to represent you in criminal court and family court should not be to difficult. It is not uncommon to have a criminal domestic situation and the children and a custody issue get involved. I am confident several lawyers have dealt with similar situations. goodluck.

Good idea....i just don't know where to start.

 

[dave33]

Good idea....i just don't know where to start.

Start with a criminal lawyer who has done this sort of thing before.

 

[nmstorm32]

Start with a criminal lawyer who has done this sort of thing before.

I met with my public defender this morning and maybe I'm still being incredibly naive but I was very impressed with him. Against the advice of the people on this thread and at my own risk, I am going to stick with him for the time being. Everything he told me made sense. He did not encourage me to take any pleas and in fact did the opposite. He said that if the ADA offer was to plea to any felonies that it would probably be in our best interest to go to trial. There was a long and logical reason why but it made sense and I agreed.

He also said that ADP (Adult diversion program) could be an option but that we would explore that further in the future. I had never heard of it so I am going to spend some time researching it.

 

[Ohiogal]

It's more complicated than that but you are good at reading between the lines. I would've thought my clearance would have been gone when this whole thing started but they cleared me. I have all my access rights back and I've already spoken to everybody that I need to. Reading it on the page the way you wrote it makes me feel horrible. I've done some stupid things in my life all because I was too chicken, too weak to stand up for myself and just leave. I've been dead wrong with some of my choices and I know it. I can't take them back even though I wish I could.

I'm doing everything I can to become a better man and a better father for my children. I'm on anti-depressents and seeing a psychiatrist and a counselor. I know in my heart that I'll never do anything stupid like this again. I know that I need to make this up to my children and to others. I know I can't properly provide for my children if I can't work though so as regretful as I am about my actions, I need to keep my job.

GET OVER YOURSELF! You are NOT a victim. You are a whiner and a crybaby but NOT a victim. You made choices -- criminal choices. As for a public defender, they may be better equipped than some private attorneys and they can do anything that a private attorney can do quite frankly. But you are guilty from the sounds of things. You need help. And quite frankly, you do NOT need custody of your children at this juncture.

 

[Zigner]

I predict that our OP will be billed for the public defender's services.

 

[Ohiogal]

While looking for an attorney, in your financial situation you will need to find one that can handle everything. To find one to represent you in criminal court and family court should not be to difficult. It is not uncommon to have a criminal domestic situation and the children and a custody issue get involved. I am confident several lawyers have dealt with similar situations. goodluck.

Criminal and domestic are completely different animals. I LOVE when criminal attorneys come into domestic court because they are clueless.

 

[nmstorm32]

GET OVER YOURSELF! You are NOT a victim. You are a whiner and a crybaby but NOT a victim. You made choices -- criminal choices. As for a public defender, they may be better equipped than some private attorneys and they can do anything that a private attorney can do quite frankly. But you are guilty from the sounds of things. You need help. And quite frankly, you do NOT need custody of your children at this juncture.

You have NO IDEA what I've been through...no idea...but I don't argue with your right to judge me any way you want.

I don't see how I'm whining or being a crybaby. I came on this board asking for suggestions and expressing remorse for my actions and regret at my past inactions.

And "from the sounds of things" you don't know if I'm guilty or not!! I didn't lie in court like I'm being accused of, I tried everything I could to stop the situation but she wouldn't listen. She knew that it was me and intentionally went to court just so that she could say that she did it because of me. I have witnesses to testify to this now. I never involved the police, she did, and did so on purpose because she knew that it would come back on me. I never tried to frame my wife's lovers wife to the police...never. I attempted to hurt my wife the way she hurt me and I had kept it bottled entirely between the two of us. Yes, it was childish, vindictive, stupid...dead wrong. But it was kept between the two of us! The other parties did not even know about it until my soon to be ex-wife got the police involved after the fact and she got them involved on purpose because she found out what I was doing to her (which again was limited to just the two of us before that). I've found all this out very recently (as in this morning) that she knew what I was doing for months. She hurt me because I hurt her and I hurt her because she hurt me and vice versa. She was just (much) smarter about it than me. The whole situation is dumb, and unnecessary. I should have known better and should have realized that it was obvious that she knew it was me (like I said, I just found out that she knew).

I've been as respectful as I can be on this board and I don't think your disrespect was justified or warranted. I'm not going to tell you what to do but if you aren't happy with anything I've written you can freely choose not to respond. I respectfully ask that you not insult me.

 

[nmstorm32]

I predict that our OP will be billed for the public defender's services.

Why do you say that?

 

[nmstorm32]

Criminal and domestic are completely different animals. I LOVE when criminal attorneys come into domestic court because they are clueless.

I can attest to the fact that they don't know each others areas of expertise. I have EAP (Employee assistance programs) through my work and have spoken to two civil and two criminal attorneys (1/2 hour each paid for by EAP) and the two sides do not know anything about the other sides field. This is understandable since this isn't their field of expertise.

So far, the best attorney I've found (at least in my opinion) has been my public defender in my criminal proceedings. The two criminal attorneys I spoke with through my EAP were not impressive. One spent the entire 1/2 hour we had talking about how much the case would cost and the other didn't ask me anything or care at all.

Of the two civil attorneys I've spoken two, one was great (but expensive) and the other was terrible (but cheap). From advice given by people on this forum, I have scheduled an appointment with a third civil attorney for Thursday afternoon. She sounded great on the phone. I am acquiring the funds necessary to (hopefully) afford her. I might not get custody of my kids but I want to earn my way back into their lives.

 

[Zigner]

Why do you say that?

Because of your obfuscation.

 

[nmstorm32]

Because of your obfuscation.

That's odd. I haven't said anything obfuscating to my attorney? I've been totally upfront with him and told him everything he's wanted to know so far. I might be writing obtusely on this site but that is only because I'm worried about saying things I shouldn't (I really have no idea what I should or should not say in regards to a criminal case).

From what I found out this morning, it looks like we (my public defender and I) might have a chance of having many of the charges dropped as it does appear that while I was trying to hurt my wife by supposedly pretending to call her a slut and a drug addict under disguise, she knew what I was doing and intentionally filed a false restraining order just to get me in trouble and she was never "stalked". It also sounds (from my meeting this morning) that she had a boyfriend this entire time that was helping her set me up as a stalker...damn, I was so stupid. I thought I was finally hurting her the way she hurt me for 17 years but she got the best of me even then.

 

[dave33]

I met with my public defender this morning and maybe I'm still being incredibly naive but I was very impressed with him. Against the advice of the people on this thread and at my own risk, I am going to stick with him for the time being. Everything he told me made sense. He did not encourage me to take any pleas and in fact did the opposite. He said that if the ADA offer was to plea to any felonies that it would probably be in our best interest to go to trial. There was a long and logical reason why but it made sense and I agreed.

He also said that ADP (Adult diversion program) could be an option but that we would explore that further in the future. I had never heard of it so I am going to spend some time researching it.

By all means, if that's what you feel comfortable with, than go with it. Now you can spend what money you can get together on a lawyer with specific expertise in family court. goodluck.