How to Fire Your Attorney

How to Fire Your Attorney

Often even after careful selection you may find that you and the lawyer you have hired have tangential views and cannot see "eye to eye." If this happens however hard you try and resolve differences the chances are that your case will suffer. It is best that you gather all your guts and fire the attorney and right off any expenses you have incurred and start a fresh.

When you hire a lawyer to work on legal matters you have the right to professionalism and a commitment on part of the lawyer. Every state has laws on rights of consumers and what a lawyer must do. So, check with the Bar Association or on the World Wide Web what your rights are.

Never be afraid or passive you have a right to: set deadlines, receive copies of all documents, ask for an itemized billing, and get a second opinion when in doubt.

When a conflict on any matter occurs, the first thing to do is communicate. Sulking or speaking behind the back of the lawyer will not help. Be courageous and speak your mind. Many a time just laying the cards on the table can clear matters. If at the end of the meeting the problem remains unresolved you and your lawyer may mutually decide to part ways.

In order to fire a lawyer you must:

o Follow to a't' the agreement made between you and your lawyer. You must include a disagreement clause in your contract and specify clearly the financial liability.

o Have on tab all the papers pertaining to the case and notes of why in your opinion things are not right.

o State clearly in writing why you need to fire the lawyer. And request the lawyer to hand over your file, give you a detailed bill of expenses, and return any retainer he may have in excess of the bill. In case you owe the lawyer money then he has the right to hold on to your file until you settle the dues.

Find a replacement before firing the first lawyer. And ensure that you are not delaying legal process by firing your lawyer in the middle of a series of hearings.

It is not prudent to fire a lawyer verbally. It is best done in writing stating clearly the reasons for firing a lawyer and outlining the payments made as well as terms and conditions determined when hiring the lawyer. Also make sure he receives your letter.

In case of any difficulties approach the courts or ask another lawyer to send him a legal notice. In many states you can submit a complaint about lawyers. Check out the guidelines by the Bar Association of the state you reside in. The law states that lawyers need to follow a code of conduct and must be professional in every way.

Just as it is up to you to hire a lawyer so also it is your choice to fire a lawyer too.

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Resisting Arrest in California - Penal Code 148

Resisting Arrest in California - Penal Code 148

Resisting arrest is a charge that is seen increasingly. A person can be arrested and charged with this crime for doing anything contrary to the officer's instructions, including even asking questions of the officer. Of course, more serious fighting, resisting, and obstructing a peace officer's duties can also be charged under this statute.

The applicable law in this situation is California Penal Code (CPC or PC) section 148, which states:

"(a) (1) Every person who willfully resists, delays, or obstructs any public officer, peace officer, or an emergency medical technician, as defined in Division 2.5 (commencing with Section 1797) of the Health and Safety Code, in the discharge or attempt to discharge any duty of his or her office or employment, when no other punishment is prescribed, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars (,000), or by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment."

Under the law, every person who willfully resists, delays, or obstructs any public officer, peace officer, or emergency medical technician, in performing his/her duties, shall be punished by a fine of up to ,000, or up to one year in a county jail, or both, if charged as a misdemeanor. If "great bodily injury" occurs to a police officer, then the case can be charged as a felony, making the maximum go up substantially - to three years in prison and a fine of over ,000.00.

This misdemeanor most often gets charged in situations where a police officer goes to arrest someone, and the person struggles physically to avoid being taken into custody. Police then have to apply force to restrain the suspect. Essentially this means that anything that prevents an officer from conducting an investigation and making an arrest qualifies as "resisting arrest." Other examples would include providing a false identity to an arresting officer or filing a false police report.

Many of these cases involve a police officer's word against a suspect's word. In these instances, defense attorneys will want to conduct a "Pitchess Motion" to see the entire personnel and complaint history of the officer. It may turn out that the officer has been accused in the past of excessive force and making false accusations against suspects. If so, the defense can use this to challenge the officer's credibility, and often get the resisting arrest case reduced or dismissed.

In handling resisting arrest or PC 148 charges over the last 15 years, I have noticed that once this charge is alleged, prosecutors, who like to show they are "tough" on crimes against police officers. What helps, however, is to show any facts that are outside of the criminal police report written by the police officers, to show that there is another world of additional facts that might change their opinion of the case. Statements from witnesses not otherwise fully interviewed by the police, and videos, can often be very helpful in this regard.

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What Are My Civil Rights?

What Are My Civil Rights?

Civil rights are considered the natural rights. This set of laws was established to promote freedom and equality among the citizens of a democratic nation. Civil rights protect the citizens from discrimination based on race, class, gender, religion, age, nationality, political party, and disability.

In most countries, both civil and political rights are codified as constitutional rights. They are included and clearly stated in the bill of rights of a particular nation. The civil rights refer to the first ten amendments of the United States Bill of Rights. Just like the universality of civil rights in general, it entitles American citizens the following basic constitutional rights:

- The First Amendment protects the citizens' rights to freedom of speech, religion, and assembly.

This is quite self explanatory. The most important declaration that prohibits the federal government from making laws that may interfere or limit people's liberty to choose a religion, self expression (free speech and free press), and ability to organize a political assembly.

- The Fourth Amendment protects citizens from unreasonable search and seizure of their homes and properties.

This ensures that unreasonable search and seizure of a person's home and property is illegal unless a search warrant, warrant of arrest, or a similar court order is presented by the law enforcer. A probable reason should be established and explained to the individual prior to any search and seizure. Police officers are even required to present a documentation of the exact location of the search and the exact description of what they are looking for.

- The Fifth Amendment protects citizens against abuse of government authority in a legal procedure.

This law secures procedural protections for criminal defendants and ensures that the government may not deprive a citizen of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.

- The Sixth Amendment protects the citizens' rights to a speedy and public trial, trial by a jury, and a right to counsel.

This is an extension of the Fifth Amendment in terms of procedural protections. The old adage that a person remains innocent until proven guilty is what this is all about. The defendant of a criminal prosecution has the right to a speedy trial which is usually gauged through the absence of unreasonable delays. It also grants the right to be represented by an attorney of his choice or self representation if the defendant is competent enough. Lastly, the right to an unbiased jury is also ratified in this amendment. Exception to jury right are petty crimes which requires only a short time of imprisonment.

- The Eighth Amendment protects citizens against federal government abuse in the form of excessive bail, excessive fines, cruel and unusual punishments.

Bail refers to the process of depositing money in order to temporarily release someone from jail until trial proper. It is illegal to require the defendant to pay excessive bails and fines. Cruel and unusual punishments such as boiling to death, burning alive, stoning, disembowelment, and other forms of torture are prohibited by law. The execution of individuals who are under 18 and/or mentally disabled is also considered as violations of the Eighth Amendment.

A lot of questions have continually emerged as to what extent the government can intervene in the ever changing issues that society has faced through out time. Although there is a remarkable improvement from the time of the Civil Rights Movement, issues concerning discrimination are still a work in progress. One thing's for sure, if people are deprived of their civil and political rights, history has it that social unrest may be inevitable.

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Five Ways a DUI Breathalyzer Can Be Wrong

Five Ways a DUI Breathalyzer Can Be Wrong

While drinking and driving is never a good idea, there are just way too many things that can go horribly wrong, people should also know enough information to protect themselves from a false reading during a breathalyzer test. The fact that there are a number of ways that a breathalyzer can be wrong during the testing process shows that the information these machines provide is not always reliable. This information can be used as a way innocent people can protect themselves against false prosecution of drunk driving.

Here are a five ways that a breathalyzer can be wrong.

Calibration

Without regular calibration, many breathalyzers lose the ability to give accurate readings. The calibration process is meant to train the breathalyzer's sensor so that it can detect accurately the amount of alcohol that is sent through the machine.

Residual Mouth Alcohol

It is important for those administering a breathalyzer test to observe a test subject for twenty or more minutes so that everyone involved that the test results are not thrown off because of any residual alcohol left in the subject's mouth. The problem with testing a subject too soon is that the machinery assumes that any alcohol found in the breath of the subject comes from the lungs and therefore is a reading of how much alcohol is in the bloodstream. It is possible for a subject to have left over alcohol in their mouth that would give a false reading on a breathalyzer when their blood alcohol rate is not really over the legal limit.

Retrograde Extrapolation

One of the more common defense attorney strategies put in use to show the fallibility of a breathalyzer test is to put forth the strategy of retrograde extrapolation. Most breathalyzer tests take place at police headquarters, sometimes more than an hour after the traffic stop. What the theory of retrograde extrapolation attempts to prove is to backtrack from the time of the test to estimate what the true blood alcohol level was at the time of the citation, which would often be less.

Compound Interference

There are a number of compounds in existence that interfere with the results that a breathalyzer can come up with. It is known that those suffering from diabetes can sometimes have acetone levels that are so high that they can be read as being over the legal limit. Acetone is one of the compounds that breathalyzers falsely reads as alcohol. Other things that have sometimes shown to cause false positive readings in breathalyzer tests include inhalers and some dietary supplements.

Absorptive Phase Testing

It takes a given amount of time for alcohol to be absorbed into a person's body, usually from half an hour to two or more hours. This is called the absorptive phase. Testing via breathalyzer during the absorptive phase can give a false reading because while alcohol is in the process of being absorbed it is not distributed evenly throughout the body.

Breathalyzers are something that anyone making the poor decision of getting behind the wheel after having more than a couple drinks will most likely have to deal with at some point in their life. There are a number of things that can go wrong though with a breathalyzer test, causing it to record false levels of alcohol in the test subject. It is important for those people being tested to know that breathalyzers are not infallible, and sometimes the mistakes that are made by the machinery or those operating them can cause someone to be falsely accused or even convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol

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What to Do if You Get a DUI in Another State - Read This Drunken Driving Article

What to Do if You Get a DUI in Another State - Read This Drunken Driving Article

Whether you have a dui legal advice in Any Way, Shape or Form. You Should always seek the advice of a competent, qualified, attorney when making any Legal Decision. You should also have access to behind the scenes information so that your best interests are being met at all times.

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Alcohol Related Car Accidents

Alcohol Related Car Accidents

The alarming figures with regard to the number of deaths caused by car accidents that involve alcohol have prompted state governments and the Federal Government to take critical steps to prevent fatalities. One of these steps is to lower the allowable blood alcohol concentration (BAC) from 100 mg/dl to 80 mg/dl. However, such measures have proven to be inadequate as more recent figures show a dramatic increase in deaths caused by car accidents involving alcohol. More stringent laws have to be enacted to prevent these accidents, which may include imposing stiffer penalties for DUI or driving under the influence cases.

Recent figures show that instead of the expected decrease in the number of alcohol related deaths as a result of imposing a lower BAC, quite the opposite has occurred. In the last ten years, around 250,000 people died in alcohol related car accidents in the United States. Figures show that 16,000 people were killed in the year 2000, due to alcohol related accidents. In 2004, that figured climbed to 25,000. This means that 500 people die every week and 71 people die everyday in alcohol related car accidents.

In addition to these figures, estimates show that the economic and societal cost of alcohol related car accidents are very high. Alcohol impaired drivers cost American taxpayers about 21 to 24 billion dollars a year. Other studies show a much higher figure of 6 billion dollars is spent on alcohol related accidents. This is in addition to the huge insurance costs of alcohol related accidents and the injury, destruction and death that come with them.

State and Federal Governments have lowered the allowable BAC that is aimed at lowering the number of deaths caused by drunk driving. However, recent figures show that there has been a dramatic increase in the number of deaths caused by drunk driving. Given this, there may be a need for more stringent interventions, such as imposing stiffer penalties for DUI cases. This has the potential of effectively preventing more deaths caused by alcohol related car accidents.

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DWAI in New York State - Fight Or Deal?

DWAI in New York State - Fight Or Deal?

DWAI, or Driving While Ability Impaired, is a traffic violation in New York State and is covered by Section 1192(1) of the Vehicle and Traffic Law. It is a lower level offense, below the criminal DWI charges. Section 1192(2) is a DWI charge for having a high blood alcohol content (BAC) and 1192(3) is for common law DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) - not based on the BAC.

The easiest way to explain the difference between DWAI and DWI is by thinking about blood-alcohol content. In New York, DWI is typically charged against someone whose BAC is measured at 0.08 or above. If the BAC is measured between 0.05, 0.06, or 0.07, the defendant is usually charged with DWAI. But it's harder to prove than a DWI based on a blood or breath test. In those cases, if a jury believes your BAC is 0.08 or above, then you are guilty.

Section 1192(3) is what's known as "Common Law DWI." For common law DWI, the prosecutor must persuade a jury that you were intoxicated. This is a fuzzy concept and can be confusing to juries, and frankly to police, judges, prosecutors and even defense lawyers.

DWAI is more like the common law DWI. The judge (there is no jury for DWAI because it is not a crime) must be persuaded that your ability to drive was impaired. The difference between intoxicated and impaired is not well defined in the law, adding to the confusion mentioned above. However, the law does state that a BAC of 0.07 is sufficient on its own to prove a charge of DWAI - though it is still possible to defeat the charge on a 0.07. With a 0.06 or 0.05, the prosecutor must submit additional evidence beyond the BAC to show impairment.

In most NY dui laws in New York make it difficult for prosecutors to reduce a DUI charge to something that is not a DUI charge. Because of this, the typical offer in a DWAI case is for the defendant to plead guilty to the charge. In other words, the plea bargain is no bargain. Other than attorney fees, a DWAI defendant has essentially nothing to lose by fighting the case.

We generally encourage our DUI clients to fight the charges, but the argument for this is strongest with DWAI cases, for the reasons detailed above.

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