Talking to a prosecutor on a bogus detention and search

[runderwo]

Since you fail to see the humor in this plan of attack, I'll point it out for you.
You see, his job is to be in court prosecuting people just like you, who have been caught breaking the law, this is where he spends his time productively. Furthermore, he's paid for being there, it does not cost him any money.
Now, do you see the irony in your strategy?
So basically, it will cost you time and money. In other words you will be asking him to reduce your charges to littering so that you don't have to waste time and money defending yourself. So, how much leverage do you honestly believe you will have with this plan of attack?

Actually, my line of thinking was to ask for a bargain to save the CITY the time and money they would have to invest in a shaky prosecution. Is that irrational of me? After all, that's why lawyers tell me they are able to plead down speeding tickets and such so easily to avoid points.

 

[xylene]

Actually, my line of thinking was to ask for a bargain to save the CITY the time and money they would have to invest in a shaky prosecution. Is that irrational of me? After all, that's why lawyers tell me they are able to plead down speeding tickets and such so easily to avoid points.

The case is NOT shakey.

The police found your weed and batbox. The circumstances to the search, are not that shaky either... the dog alerted. What you think doesn't much matter- because a trained officer will testify to that effect...

MAYBE a lawyer could get you out of this.

Talking to the prosecutor will do 2 things- Make you look like a cowboy, and get you to admit your guilt (DA is a court officer...)

What you are suggesting sounds reasonable, but it just is not how court works, esp. for drugs.

 

[Heather2]

Actually, my line of thinking was to ask for a bargain to save the CITY the time and money they would have to invest in a shaky prosecution. Is that irrational of me? After all, that's why lawyers tell me they are able to plead down speeding tickets and such so easily to avoid points.

I'm not saying you will for sure in your case but in mine I had to pay for the court costs.

 

[runderwo]

Thanks for all the help so far. I talked to a different lawyer (actually a NORML lawyer who saw my online post and called me). He said it would not hurt to go to the first hearing and see if the prosecutor offers a deal. If the prosecutor does not offer a deal, he said that would then be the most reasonable time to hire an attorney in order to get a deal. As was stated here, he disrecommended attempting to make a deal with the prosecutor unless the prosecutor is the one to offer it, and he said deals are most frequently offered at the hearing if at all. However, I was also told that the prosecutor will not offer a deal at the hearing unless I am representing myself, so this is probably a dead end since I can't afford the risk of representing myself.

I think I'm getting somewhere now, thanks all.

 

[runderwo]

This is getting a little interesting. The lawyer can't find any record of the case having been filed. Is it possible for the ticket to be written but the arrest report doesn't make it out of the police station? It has been 3 weeks since the traffic stop and the court date is 3 weeks from today.

 

[garrula lingua]

The case may have been rejected by the Prosecutor, or
the Prosecution is backed up in their filings, or
the court is behind in filing Prosecution cases (or someone, in the process, is on vacation).

They probably have a year to decide if they will file. Usu, if it's a reject, court staff will tell you that, on the day you are scheduled to appear in court.

 

[runderwo]

I had my day in court finally. $800 later, I'm a convicted Litterbug. The lawyer was definitely a necessity to avoid the drug charge, so thanks all for setting me straight on that.