Felony Child Neglect

[mirrirose]

I was convicted of a felony for child neglect on 12.09.10. The circumstances for this are as follows.

My daughter (age 16) has had ODD since she was in kindergarten. I have tried numerous times to get her the help she needed. She also developed OCD around January 2010. She would have outbursts with screaming and being very destructive. She was verbally and emotionally abusive to me all the time. She did spend about 2 years at an alternative school for her behavior as the public schools could not deal with her raging and her outbursts. I have lost jobs in the past because the school would call me and want me to come get her and I had no choice but to go take care of this. I also was engaged, but my fiance broke it off due to her behavior. My life has been work and home and nothing else due to her behavior.

I lost my job 07.26.10. My position was eliminated at that time. I became very depressed because of this and because I was having a hard time finding employment. Losing my job and dealing with my daughter's behavior sent me into a deep depression. I had no energy to do anything and my house became a mess.

My daughter decided she was going to leave one way or another and told her therapist that my son (age 20) had physically abused her. This was a lie. When the social worker came to take my daughter away, I was ticketed for neglect due to the conditions of my home. My daughter was taken to a foster home and she ran away from there. My daughter did turn herself in and was placed in a shelter.

My daughter has since come back home to live and we are receiving services which include family therapy and IFP. I did have a psych eval which showed I have a major depressive disorder and anxiety. My home is clean now and I have been doing everything that the court has ordered.

My lawyer told me that the only way I would not have to do prison time was to plead guilty, so that is what I did.

Now I am a felon and have lost my nurse's license. I am unable to find a job and will not be able to take care of my children. I am in a deeper depression and I am having anxiety attacks where I feel like I can't breathe. I am only sleeping 2 hours at a time and crying all the time.

I feel like I am being punished for being depressed. A fine would have been more than enough since my only income at this time is unemployment. But now, I have a criminal record which will follow me for the rest of my life. I feel that the punishment does not fit the crime as there definitely were a lot of things involved. I don't see any future for me and feel like I am spiraling downward into a black hole that I can't get out of.

I wasn't sure if there is anything I can do or if you could help me. It just feels like the county attorney was out for blood and no one seems to even care about any of the circumstances behind this.

Thank you for any help.

Also, I have never been in trouble with the law before so this was a first offense.

 

[Proserpina]

I realize that you're in a horrible position - but do you actually have a legal question?

 

[mightymoose]

If you are still within the allotted time frame, you can try and appeal the ruling against you.

 

[Proserpina]

If you are still within the allotted time frame, you can try and appeal the ruling against you.

She can appeal a guilty plea?

On what grounds?

 

[bluemann33]

I thought if you plea guilty that you could not appeal. One thing you could try is to get the felony expunged from your record. That usually takes years of being good.

 

[army judge]

My goodness, madam, my heart goes out to you.
I'll give you the bad news first, saving the good news for last.

If you take a plea, it is almost impossible to appeal that plea. The judge admonishes you on the record about the permanency and nature of your plea.

However, you can seek to have your case sealed. You could also seek expungement or expunction, if either applies in your state. You can also seek clench from the governor of your state. That sometimes requires a specified amount of time to pass before you can seek clemency.

And, as others have said, one day you could seek a pardon.

You might want to learn about nurse licensing procedures in other US states and territories. You could also investigate those licensing opportunities in other countries. Some jurisdictions ignore or waive certain felonies by law or through your explanation.

In the interim, please seek (or continue) mental health counselling. Don't give up, as there is a remedy somewhere out there. God bless.

 

[mightymoose]

She can appeal a guilty plea?

On what grounds?

I missed the plea part....