Attorney Conduct

[Yviemarie]

Jurisdiction

Arizona

My brother's lawyer is aggressively trying to push him into taking a plea. My brother is innocent and wants to go to trial, but his attorney has told him the case was "hopeless" and that he will die in prison. He is also trying to scare my brother's wife telling her that she will be an old woman by the time my brother is released. The prosecuting attorney has come back with three different plea offers ... my thoughts are that the state does not have a case and that my brother's lawyer charged him so little for his services (1/4 what all other attorneys we talked to quoted us) because, even though he assured the family it included trial costs, he was convinced he would be able to talk my brother into taking a plea. We hired this attorney four months ago, the trial is in three months and the lawyer has done nothing to prepare for it. Any advice?

 

[army judge]

My brother's lawyer is aggressively trying to push him into taking a plea. My brother is innocent and wants to go to trial, but his attorney has told him the case was "hopeless" and that he will die in prison. He is also trying to scare my brother's wife telling her that she will be an old woman by the time my brother is released. The prosecuting attorney has come back with three different plea offers ... my thoughts are that the state does not have a case and that my brother's lawyer charged him so little for his services (1/4 what all other attorneys we talked to quoted us) because, even though he assured the family it included trial costs, he was convinced he would be able to talk my brother into taking a plea. We hired this attorney four months ago, the trial is in three months and the lawyer has done nothing to prepare for it. Any advice?

At this point, if YOUR brother no longer has trust or confidence in his attorney he should fire him.

No one should plead guilty if he or she believes he or she is innocent.

Once the lawyer has removed himself from the case,your brother can ask the court if he qualifies to receive a taxpayer funded public defender.

If the attorney/client relationship is broken, the client would be foolish to have the attorney represent her at trial.