Lawyer Question regarding Class B Misdeamenor

[JJ99SS]

OK...I will be opening up a can-o-worms with this one...

I'll be brief and general. I went to a court house to take care of a Class B Misdemeanor charge. I asked what the offer was if I plead guilty. 450.00 and 180 days probation. OK except that I want to plea down to a C Misdemeanor and keep my CHL and asked the clerk to check. She went into the Attorney's office and came back with a "Thats the offer".

Now I go home and contact a local Attorney. He tells me his flat rate for accepting a case is 1500 per case. (I say that because my GF has the same charge but a different case number so it would be 3000 for the both of us.) I then call the courthouse for the case number, and call him back. He then offers to call the court for me to get some basic info about the charges and calls me back with "I feel very confident that with my relationship with the County Attorney, I can get you Deferred Adjudication..60 days. Charges dropped after completion...no record." He told me his flat rate was 1500...per case...kind of high for what seems to be a few hours of pressing palms, slapping backs and paper pushing.

So here are my questions:

1)It seems that I have no choice but to do this, but should I, with no "guarantee" of Deferred? Just "very confident of deferred"

2)Why is it that an Attorney can get this in 10 minutes but when I asked the County Attorney I get nothing? Is the legal profession a self perpetuating industry? ie Lawyers only doing favors for other Lawyers so that they can get paid by some poor sap with no choice.

3) Is there a better cheaper way of getting the same result?

4) What are the long term repercussions of having a Class B? on your record (NON CHL RELATED!) Job applications, credit history etc.?

Please do not thread jack this post. Just looking for discussion about the questions/situation above.

[RPBrown]

Depending on the nature of the charge, there are some other state licenses that could be revoked as well. A/C, electrical, and so on. If your business require registration or licensing through the state, it could cause you to lose a job or not be able to get a job.

Again, depending on the nature of the charge, a lot of companies are doing back ground checks. Our company will not hire with a theft or assault related A or B misdemeaner or any felony convictions

[JJ99SS]

Trespass is the charge. Sorry for not disclosing in original post.

[WildBill]

IANAL so here is my unlegal opinion.

1. No attorney can guarantee results. If you don't trust this attorney, find another.
2a. This is what lawyers do. Their relationship with the DA and the courts are, in part, what you pay them for. Is the $1500 a retainer or total for disposition of the case?
2b. The statement "my relationship with the County Attorney" sounds like puffery.
2c. If the lawyer can get you "Deferred Adjudication..60 days. Charges dropped after completion...no record" then it's money well spent.
3. Probably not. Where I come from $1500 is about 5 billable hours for an attorney.
4. That depends on your line of work, but any conviction won't have any positive effect on your life.

Unsolicited advice - let your GF pay her own way. If your's turns out okay, she may want to hire the same attorney.

[tarkus]

IANAL so here is my unlegal opinion.

1. No attorney can guarantee results. If you don't trust this attorney, find another.

It depends what you mean by guarantee. I once used a speeding ticket mill that only got paid if the ticket was dismissed. If this lawyer is making a similar promise, it's probably worth the $1500.

2a. That is what lawyers do. Their relationship with the DA and the courts are, in part, what you pay them for.

It's like the old joke. $1 is for hitting the pipe. The other $999 is for knowing where to hit it.

[WildBill]

IANAL so here is my unlegal opinion.

1. No attorney can guarantee results. If you don't trust this attorney, find another.

It depends what you mean by guarantee. I once used a speeding ticket mill that only got paid if the ticket was dismissed. If this lawyer is making a similar promise, it's probably worth the $1500.

The lawyer can not guarantee results, i.e. the Deferred Adjudication. Even if you didn't have to pay the attorney's fees you would still have a Class B Misdemeanor conviction. JJ99SS can already get that for free.

[tarkus]

He doesn't have to accept the plea bargain if he doesn't like it.

[WildBill]

He doesn't have to accept the plea bargain if he doesn't like it.

Then it's not a guarantee. It's a "very confident". Please back to JJ99SS's questions. He asked real nice not to hijack the thread. Maybe I should wait to see if any real lawyers offer to help out.

[Luggo1]

I am a lawyer, and a criminal defense lawyer, as for the price...

That is basically what I would charge you, perhaps as low as 1200.

What has been stated above is very true, no one can guarantee results. Generally we do know how a particular prosecutor will deal with a charge though it isn't a guarantee. You need to trust the lawyer you hire. If you don't feel good about him or her, go elsewhere. You can shop the price also. I realize most people don't like attorneys, and feel like they charge too much. However, I'm a good attorney, and I price myself as such. Can you get it for cheaper, maybe, do you get what you pay for? Sometimes, sometimes not. A high price doesn't guarantee a quality lawyer, but I would be suspicious of one that tells you they will do that case for $250.

Bottom line, shop around and first and foremost feel good about who you hire, not necessarily what you pay.

[AJSully421]

READ CAREFULLY... DEFERRED ADJUDICATION WILL LEAVE YOU WITH A RECORD!!!!!!!!!!!!! no matter what any lawyer says!

It is not half as bad as a full blown conviction (which probation will be considered) as you are not officially finally convicted of a crime, but to many folks, you have plead "guilty" to a crime, and in their eyes, you are just that... guilty. The charges will be dismissed afterward, that is true, but it will still be on your "record" Now, something stupid like trespassing is pretty low rent, and i don't think that it will keep you hung up for a long time, especially with a story like "my girlfriend and i had been drinking and wandering around, we thought it would be funny if we... and some landowner got all irritated and..." and you really ought to look at any professional licenses that you have to see if they will be revoked as well.

What will happen either way is that a class B will get your CHL jerked for 5 years, and a +2 years for your CHL being revoked. (I think Mr. Cotton might have a way to help with this one) And you will have a criminal record that will be viewable to public background check companies until you process some sort of "record sealing" or non-disclosure order from a judge.

Unfortunately, trespassing cannot be reduced to a class C as there is not any comparable class c charge... (for example, I had a buddy who was "sleeping it off" in a parked car with the keys in his pocket, a cop got him and arrested him for DWI (class B)... this was dropped to a class C Public Intoxication as he was able to successfully argue that he was obviously not driving) There is no class C trespassing, so it cannot be lowered to that.

Differed Adjudication is certainly the better option, but keep in mind that on top of what the lawyer costs, you will still have to pay a fine, probably the same amount you were quoted, you will have to report to a probation officer, and do approx. 25 hours or more of community service.

A Deffered Adjudication will not effect your credit BTW, and as far as i know, neither will a conviction. I used to work at a lone-by-phone call center, and looked at thousands of credit reports, and never saw anything about criminal history... the only thing that i did see was an order of restitution that was turned over to a collection agency, and that's the only reason it came up, but otherwise... no.

Good Luck!

[KBCraig]

A lawyer that is "very confident" should be willing to take a risk. Offer him a $100 retainer, with the $1,400 balance due upon a successful conclusion to the case.

[srothstein]

Let me give you a slightly different point of view. My first advice is to always get a lawyer when dealing with a court for any reason, civil or criminal. You pay them for knowing exactly what the other side and judge will go for. Yes, it is kind of self-perpetuating, but it is the way it is. You need to deal with the system as it is and find out how to work it.

From what I have heard, $1500 for a plea bargain on Criminal Trespass does not sound too unreasonable. The lawyer knowing about deferred adjudication is what you pay for. I note that you did not ask about that (well, in your story), but instead asked to plead it down to a slightly different offense. Lawyers know which DA's will do that and which won't. One of the problems with it is that pleading to a class C changes which court it goes to and what the punishments can be. This is probably why the DA did not accept your offer. The fact that it came from you and through a clerk instead of face to face with the DA also hurt you. It also helps if there is a class C version of the crime you were charged with, but there is one for Criminal Trespass. If it was entry on agricultural land, and you were within 100 feet of the boundary, you could be guilty of only a class C.

But you do need to trust your attorney. If you do not have a good feel for this one, get one you do. My first thing to look at would be if he reviewed your case before saying what he could get. Did he even get your side of the events? Ask him what the fee is if you do not plead it out but fight it in court. After all, if you do not get the offer he is confident of, you might not like the deal and want to see what a jury will do. That needs to be discussed in advance.

And I don't think the deferred adjudication will hurt you too much. It does hurt the CHL, obviously, and would block a peace officer license for ten years. There may be a few other licenses which get that strict too. Most companies will not count it against you since they ask about convictions and not arrests. Most individuals who do find out about it will view you as guilty since you did plead guilty to get the deferral. You may be able to get the record cleared afterwards with an expungement order, but I do not know the full procedures on this and what is eligible. I know there will be a lawyer and a court filing involved though.

If you truly did trespass on someone else's property, the lawyer sounds like he could get you a fair deal. My opinion would be to check others int he same town/county and pick one you trust and go for it.

[Crossfire]

Deferred Adjudication on a class B misdemeanor affects your CHL status? I thought it wouldn't unless you were actually found guilty.

Deferred Adjudication is treated as a conviction.

From the DPS publication, LS-16, In the "Q and A" Section:

Q: After I was arrested and charged with a criminal offense, I
received an order of deferred adjudication. Is this considered a
conviction, even though the case was eventually dismissed?

A: Yes. The concealed handgun law states that deferred adjudication
will be treated as a conviction, except for orders of deferred
adjudication over 10 years old for certain felony offense not involving
violence against a person. See Texas Gov’t. Code § 411.171(4).