bad lawyer

[jamieruland]

1) i was recently arrested for dwi in TX and they did my blood work and collected all evidence needed, i then got a lawyer. He hasnt been in contact with me for months at a time. Finally he gets ahold of me and said the results are in and everything was negative, and they still want to have me serve more jail time and probation But he is refusing to give me my discovery papers and the arrest video. He is acting very weird and sketchy. Is this legal for him to with hold the information from me

 

[Ohiogal]

1) i was recently arrested for dwi in TX and they did my blood work and collected all evidence needed, i then got a lawyer. He hasnt been in contact with me for months at a time. Finally he gets ahold of me and said the results are in and everything was negative, and they still want to have me serve more jail time and probation But he is refusing to give me my discovery papers and the arrest video. He is acting very weird and sketchy. Is this legal for him to with hold the information from me

Some discovery cannot be shared with the client.

 

[TigerD]

Some discovery cannot be shared with the client.

For a DUI? Like what?

TD

 

[quincy]

1) i was recently arrested for dwi in TX and they did my blood work and collected all evidence needed, i then got a lawyer. He hasnt been in contact with me for months at a time. Finally he gets ahold of me and said the results are in and everything was negative, and they still want to have me serve more jail time and probation But he is refusing to give me my discovery papers and the arrest video. He is acting very weird and sketchy. Is this legal for him to with hold the information from me

What reason has your attorney given you for "refusing" to give you discovery papers and the arrest video? I agree with Ohiogal that some discovery material may not be available for the giving.

In 2014, the Texas Supreme Court revised the state's rules of evidence. Here is a link to (what seems to me to be) a fairly comprehensive look at the revisions, from the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyer's Association. The article by Troy McKinney was written in November 2013 for Voice for the Defense Online:
http://www.voiceforthedefenseonline.com/story/criminal-discovery-texas—2014-beginning-brave-new-world-fairness

While I would hesitate to say you have a "bad lawyer" without knowing far more than what you have presented here, attorneys should keep in regular contact with their clients. But acting "very weird and sketchy" is not necessarily a violation of the attorney's professional code or ethics. There are some attorneys who just act weird and "sketchiness" is subjective.

Here is a link to the Texas Bar Association Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, with grievance information and information on attorney ethics:
https://www.texasbar.com/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Grievance_Info_and_Ethics_Helpline&Template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentFileID=96

 

[Ohiogal]

For a DUI? Like what?

TD

I don't know what discovery was received. So I can't tell if there is anything that cannot be shared. I was speaking generally.

 

[STEPHAN]

He hasnt been in contact with me for months at a time.

Were YOU trying to be in contact?

 

[quincy]

Were YOU trying to be in contact?

Under the Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.03 Communication, a lawyer "shall" keep a client reasonably informed about the status of a matter and promptly comply with reasonable requests for information.

Often an attorney has nothing to report to a client but a good attorney should know that the client is waiting for word on his/her case and the attorney should keep in regular contact with the client, even if the contact is only to say there is nothing new to report. And, if the client calls, the attorney should respond to the call - although clients should be aware that calls received from and made to the client are (generally) billed to the client, so the client would be financially smart to limit them.

Waiting "for months at a time" to hear from one's attorney seems to me to be neglecting the client. That said, if jamieruland was "recently" arrested on a DWI, I question a bit the "months at a time" statement.

 

[jamieruland]

I wanted the results of my blood work (which i know were negative for anything). This happened in October 2014 and i herd from him (my lawyer) 2weeks ago. He is also wanting me to take a plea bargin for 10days in jail and probation, why should i have that if thw resulta are negative. And why he was being sketchy is because he was asking a bunch of questions that didnt pertain to my case at all, as if he were trying to intrap me for something else

 

[quincy]

I wanted the results of my blood work (which i know were negative for anything). This happened in October 2014 and i herd from him (my lawyer) 2weeks ago. He is also wanting me to take a plea bargin for 10days in jail and probation, why should i have that if thw resulta are negative. And why he was being sketchy is because he was asking a bunch of questions that didnt pertain to my case at all, as if he were trying to intrap me for something else

What reason did your attorney give you for not providing you with the discovery materials you requested?

If you do not believe your current attorney is representing your best interests (and especially if you think your attorney is so bad, weird and sketchy that he would try to "entrap" his own client), you should consult with another attorney in your area for a personal review of the facts.

Good luck, jamieruland.

 

[jamieruland]

He said "oh you dont want to watch that its boring" (to the video) and said "i cant let you see it" (for the lab results, but confirmed it was negative). I want to get another layer but i already paid alot for this person, and my court date is right around the corner

 

[TigerD]

He said "oh you dont want to watch that its boring" (to the video) and said "i cant let you see it" (for the lab results, but confirmed it was negative). I want to get another layer but i already paid alot for this person, and my court date is right around the corner

1. I agree with quincy. If you feel the relationship between you and your attorney is so strained that you fear his "entrapping you", then you absolutely need a new attorney.
2. I cannot for the life of me think of a single reason that a lab report in a DUI case is barred for release to the accused. As for not watching the video - you should absolutely watch the video and so should your attorney.

You need to consult with a different attorney.

TD

 

[Ohiogal]

Under the Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.03 Communication, a lawyer "shall" keep a client reasonably informed about the status of a matter and promptly comply with reasonable requests for information.

Often an attorney has nothing to report to a client but a good attorney should know that the client is waiting for word on his/her case and the attorney should keep in regular contact with the client, even if the contact is only to say there is nothing new to report. And, if the client calls, the attorney should respond to the call - although clients should be aware that calls received from and made to the client are (generally) billed to the client, so the client would be financially smart to limit them.

Waiting "for months at a time" to hear from one's attorney seems to me to be neglecting the client. That said, if jamieruland was "recently" arrested on a DWI, I question a bit the "months at a time" statement.

The issue I have with some of my clients is that they MOVE and change their phone number without telling me. They then gripe that they haven't heard from me. Ummm, really? I return phone calls within 24 hours. If I don't, then my client should call me back.

 

[CavemanLawyer]

The Defendant does not have a right to possession of any of the evidence in a criminal case, only the attorney does. But you absolutely have the right to look at everything turned over to your attorney through discovery. If your attorney refuses to let you look at the lab report or the in-car video then something is definitely wrong. My guess is that he/she is just trying to resolve the case without having to go through the trouble of scheduling a long meeting with you where you watch a ~1 hour video and he has to answer alot of questions. I will say that it is not at all uncommon to put such a meeting off until closer to your actual trial date. But that is something that absolutely needs to be done before you go to trial or accept any plea agreement.

Were your blood results negative for both alcohol and a controlled substance or just alcohol? Were they truly negative of all substances or were there substances present that you just have a prescription for? If the State is going forward on a case where the blood came back negative for everything then you would have to appear intoxicated on in-car video and they'd have to have a valid reason to explain the negative blood results (ie: very long delay in drawing blood resulting in all alcohol dissipated.)

 

[commentator]

And you know, there are clients who actually believe that they can hound and harass their attorney into giving them exactly what they want by calling and demanding to be contacted VERY frequently. And if this was a flat fee paid for his services, he won't log the calls and charge you, he just won't call back.

I agree with caveman, this attorney just doesn't want to spend the quality time with you to discuss the case and watch your video right now. But if your court date is soon, and you're financially tapped out, I believe I'd stay with him and let him show you his stuff. It would not be good for you to show up in court without an attorney and be trying to explain to them how you just didn't trust the guy......

It may turn out to be better than you have visualized, You seem to be freaking only because he's not giving you the warm fuzzy feelings you want about the case. It sounds very unreasonable and paranoid to me that you think your own attorney is trying to trip you up or entrap you. Why would he want to?

 

[quincy]

The Defendant does not have a right to possession of any of the evidence in a criminal case, only the attorney does. But you absolutely have the right to look at everything turned over to your attorney through discovery. If your attorney refuses to let you look at the lab report or the in-car video then something is definitely wrong. My guess is that he/she is just trying to resolve the case without having to go through the trouble of scheduling a long meeting with you where you watch a ~1 hour video and he has to answer alot of questions. I will say that it is not at all uncommon to put such a meeting off until closer to your actual trial date. But that is something that absolutely needs to be done before you go to trial or accept any plea agreement.

Were your blood results negative for both alcohol and a controlled substance or just alcohol? Were they truly negative of all substances or were there substances present that you just have a prescription for? If the State is going forward on a case where the blood came back negative for everything then you would have to appear intoxicated on in-car video and they'd have to have a valid reason to explain the negative blood results (ie: very long delay in drawing blood resulting in all alcohol dissipated.)

The fact that jamieruland says the prosecutor apparently wants him "to serve more jail time and probation" when his attorney is saying the blood results are negative indicates there could be more to this story than what is being shared.

But I think a review of the video could be important (as boring as it might be) for jamieruland's understanding, so I question the attorney's reluctance.