ganymeda1981
New Member
**note**
I have already posted part of this information in another thread, but have since realized that i didn't give enough information or even ask the right questions. I know very very little about law and have never been in trouble with the law myself. I hope the thread will give all the information needed, but, if I've missed again, please tell me what I need to clarify.
**********
My friend, Justin, got a citation on Nov 24.
1. Possess ½ ounce or less of marijuana, a controlled substance included within schedule VI of the North Carolina Controlled Substance Act.
2. Did possess Xanax, a controlled substance included within schedule IV of the North Carolina Controlled Substance Act.
Thinking honesty is the best policy at his court date Jan 18 he pled guilty. He thought he would just pay a fine and everything would be okay. He has to go back to court Wednesday for sentencing. He just told me about it all the other day, and I started calling law firms.
The case manager at the Cochran law firm said he would probably be facing a year in jail (said Xanax was a felony-he had 3 on him at the time), a $1,000 fine or both.
The case manager I spoke to there said that they would take the case, get a continuance and hopefully switch the plea to not guilty. He told me that they would charge anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 depending on how much they had to do. Justin has no way of coming up with this much money and I don't have that much to give/loan him.
I called another local law firm (Cecil Jenkins). They said they would do the same thing the Cochran firm would do and would charge a flat $400 fee. This is something Justin can afford.
There's such a huge difference in the fees that I'm wary. Is $400 incredibly low and does this low fee indicate that the lawyer may not be very good. The people I spoke with there were really nice and I would love to work with them, I just want to be sure.
Obviously Justin hasn't gone about this in the best way or given the matter the seriousness that he should have. But, what's done is done. I'm trying to figure out how to help him now. He's been at his job for 6 months - his first really great job, he can't afford to lose it. He's getting his life on the right track and is doing better than I've ever seen him. There has to be something that can be done.
I would really be grateful for opinions about fees and lawyers, angles that I haven't thought of that would help, information about laws concerning this case, a place to call or a web site that maybe rates lawyers or something so I can have some idea of who we're hiring, anything.
What exactly is prayer for judgment and could it be used in this case?
Click this link
http://www.freewebs.com/justincourt/justincourt.htm
to see all the information I have including priors, court date information, offense, all the information from the citation and a scan of the citation.
(Names, SS#, DL#, etc. have all been marked out to maintain Justin's privacy.)
I have already posted part of this information in another thread, but have since realized that i didn't give enough information or even ask the right questions. I know very very little about law and have never been in trouble with the law myself. I hope the thread will give all the information needed, but, if I've missed again, please tell me what I need to clarify.
**********
My friend, Justin, got a citation on Nov 24.
1. Possess ½ ounce or less of marijuana, a controlled substance included within schedule VI of the North Carolina Controlled Substance Act.
2. Did possess Xanax, a controlled substance included within schedule IV of the North Carolina Controlled Substance Act.
Thinking honesty is the best policy at his court date Jan 18 he pled guilty. He thought he would just pay a fine and everything would be okay. He has to go back to court Wednesday for sentencing. He just told me about it all the other day, and I started calling law firms.
The case manager at the Cochran law firm said he would probably be facing a year in jail (said Xanax was a felony-he had 3 on him at the time), a $1,000 fine or both.
The case manager I spoke to there said that they would take the case, get a continuance and hopefully switch the plea to not guilty. He told me that they would charge anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 depending on how much they had to do. Justin has no way of coming up with this much money and I don't have that much to give/loan him.
I called another local law firm (Cecil Jenkins). They said they would do the same thing the Cochran firm would do and would charge a flat $400 fee. This is something Justin can afford.
There's such a huge difference in the fees that I'm wary. Is $400 incredibly low and does this low fee indicate that the lawyer may not be very good. The people I spoke with there were really nice and I would love to work with them, I just want to be sure.
Obviously Justin hasn't gone about this in the best way or given the matter the seriousness that he should have. But, what's done is done. I'm trying to figure out how to help him now. He's been at his job for 6 months - his first really great job, he can't afford to lose it. He's getting his life on the right track and is doing better than I've ever seen him. There has to be something that can be done.
I would really be grateful for opinions about fees and lawyers, angles that I haven't thought of that would help, information about laws concerning this case, a place to call or a web site that maybe rates lawyers or something so I can have some idea of who we're hiring, anything.
What exactly is prayer for judgment and could it be used in this case?
Click this link
http://www.freewebs.com/justincourt/justincourt.htm
to see all the information I have including priors, court date information, offense, all the information from the citation and a scan of the citation.
(Names, SS#, DL#, etc. have all been marked out to maintain Justin's privacy.)
