Ive had a couple cases come up right after my mom died in early 2014. One was end of March, other end of April 2014. A bad run of luck. Ive had endless delays while my lawyer and the prosecutor continued and continued for over a year now. And even though the incidents are unrelated the prosecutor has tied the two together which seems wrong to me, but it makes his position so much stronger against me. Well the Judge is sick of all the delays and wants me to either go to Jail for a 60 day sentence or reject the plea and go to trial. The offer is 60 days. If I risk trial, one charge carries up to 2 years and the other up to one year. So my lawyer is saying plead guilty under Alford doctrine and just get it over with. He said if I choose trial he can no longer represent me as he is cutting his case load due to illness.
I feel like a pawn in a chess match rather than someone being treated fairly in the system. I looked up right to speedy trial and it says generally trial must take place within a year if requested a speedy trial. Or since I haven't request it and since more than a year has gone by they would have 30 days to be ready or drop the charges. I asked my lawyer about this and he laughed. He said if I request a speedy trial they have 18 months from the request to put me on trial.
My lawyer seems too buddy buddy with the prosecutor. He even brags about his great relationships on his website. I never felt he represented me well. I don't trust him at this point. Am I be railroaded into going to jail on a case I should be getting dismissed? Its seems odd that 15 months in on this they would still have 18 months to try me and consider it speedy. When I read online its a year. Please help. I just found this forum. I don't have much time. I need to decide by Tuesday morning June 23 at 10am what to do. Right now I am acting out of fear with the only info available to me. Also if I reject the deal will that be the end of attempts at plea bargains? May I get better offers if I reject?
Thanks
Eric
I feel like a pawn in a chess match rather than someone being treated fairly in the system. I looked up right to speedy trial and it says generally trial must take place within a year if requested a speedy trial. Or since I haven't request it and since more than a year has gone by they would have 30 days to be ready or drop the charges. I asked my lawyer about this and he laughed. He said if I request a speedy trial they have 18 months from the request to put me on trial.
My lawyer seems too buddy buddy with the prosecutor. He even brags about his great relationships on his website. I never felt he represented me well. I don't trust him at this point. Am I be railroaded into going to jail on a case I should be getting dismissed? Its seems odd that 15 months in on this they would still have 18 months to try me and consider it speedy. When I read online its a year. Please help. I just found this forum. I don't have much time. I need to decide by Tuesday morning June 23 at 10am what to do. Right now I am acting out of fear with the only info available to me. Also if I reject the deal will that be the end of attempts at plea bargains? May I get better offers if I reject?
Thanks
Eric