Arraignment, Bail, Bonds, Pretrial i need legal advice please!!

[Damagedxroses66]

hey i know you dont know me but my name is Danny and im 21 and from Minnesota and I really need some legal advice, ok I have 2 felonys, im gonna be completly honest with you with what happened. the first felony is a violation of a no contact order and the second one is because the age difference is over 36 months apart. ok about a year ago I was friends with a girl who was underage right? and we were just friends, i never did anything with her, and her parents found out and put a no contact order on me even though i never did anything with her, it was the age thing, about a year later this january I was working at a ski resort, and I was skiing on a day off and she happened to be there with her schools ski club and she came up and started talking to me, now i tried avoiding her and telling her that i couldnt talk to her*thats where i messed up* but i didnt know she was gonna be there and i wasnt about to leave since i was on one of my days off and i could get in free ya know? and thats all we did was talk, it even say so in the police report. so now im facing 2 felonys, one because of talking to her and second because of the age difference thing, now i do have a background of a disorderly conduct and 2 5th degree assults from getting into fights but those have nothing to do with this current case, please please even though i dont know you, give me some advice. how should i handle myself in court? do you think ill get a big punishment even though i never hurt her? what kinda plea bargain could i ask for? please just tell me anything to help me with this case because im really really worried about it, my first pretrial is on march 5th. thank you so much for taking the time to read this and i hope to hear back from you soon!

 

[seniorjudge]

Standard answer

Here are some hints on appearing in court:

Dress professionally in clean clothes.

Do not wear message shirts.

Don't chew gum, smoke, or eat. (Smokers...pot or tobacco...literally stink. Remember that before you head for court.)

Bathe and wash your hair.

Do not bring small children or your friends.

Go to court beforehand some day before you actually have to go to watch how things go.

Speak politely and deferentially. If you argue or dispute something, do it professionally and without emotion.

Ask the court clerk who you talk to about a diversion (meaning you want to plead to a different, lesser charge), if applicable in your situation. Ask about traffic school and that the ticket not go on your record, if applicable. Ask also about getting a hardship driving permit, if applicable. Ask about drug court, if applicable.

From marbol:

"Judge...

You forgot the one thing that I've seen that seems to frizz up most judges these days:

If you have a cell phone, make DAMN SURE that it doesn't make ANY noise in the courtroom. This means when you are talking to the judge AND when you are simply sitting in the court room.

If you have a 'vibrate' position on your cell phone, MAKE sure the judge DOESN'T EVEN HEAR IT VIBRATE!

Turn it off or put it in silent mode where it flashes a LED if it rings. AND DON'T even DREAM about answering it if it rings."

(Better yet, don't carry your cell phone into the courtroom.)"


Here are seven stories that criminal court judges hear the most (and I suggest you do not use them or variations of them):

1. I've been saved! (This is not religion specific; folks from all kinds of religious backgrounds use this one.)

2. My girlfriend/mother/sister/daughter/wife/ex-wife/niece/grandma/grand-daughter is pregnant/sick/dying/dead/crippled/crazy and needs my help.

3. I've got a job/military posting in [name a place five hundred miles away].

4. This is the first time I ever did this. (This conflicts with number 5 below, but that hasn't stopped some defendants from using both.)

5. You've got the wrong guy. (A variation of this one is the phantom defendant story: "It wasn't me driving, it was a hitchhiker I picked up. He wrecked the car, drug me behind the wheel then took off." Or, another variation: "I was forced into it by a bad guy!")

6. I was influenced by a bad crowd.

7. I/my kid/my whatever has surgery scheduled.


http://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?p=854687#post854687

Public defender's advice

http://newyork.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/70300494.html


Other people may give you other advice; stand by.