“My attorney is trying to make me plead guilty for prison time but I’m innocent and want a trial or dismissal and barring that probation or deferred adjudication. What can I do?”
If you’re innocent and facing pressure to accept a plea deal, understanding your rights and the role of your attorney is crucial. Always remember that the attorney works for you and you have the right to accept or reject a plea bargain.
Should I Accept the Prosecutor’s Plea Offer?
Most criminal cases are worked out through plea bargains but if you have limited experience with criminal justice it can be hard to know if the plea offer by the prosecutor is reasonable. If you’re not happy with your attorney and the case is at the disposition stage and you can take the prosecutor’s plea bargain or set it for trial, I strongly recommend consulting another attorney.
Unless you are represented by a court appointed lawyer you have the absolute right to hire the best attorney you can afford, so most judges will give you a short reset date.
If you are in need of second opinion from another attorney in the Houston area, contact Jack B. Carroll & Associates for a free consultation.
A significant portion of the cases we receive from dissatisfied clients involve first-time offenders charged with various sex crimes, including sexual assault, indecency with a child, aggravated sexual assault, and more. We also handle cases related to different categories of homicide, such as murder, intoxicated manslaughter, manslaughter, or deadly conduct. Needless to say, all of these alleged crimes carry severe consequences.
What should I do if my attorney presents an offer of probation or deferred adjudication as a great deal, but I believe my case should have been dismissed?
Exercise caution if your attorney presents a prosecution offer of community supervision, such as probation or deferred adjudication, as a gift from God. Frequently, cases that should have been dismissed are resolved in this manner. Hold your lawyer accountable and insist on setting the case for trial, as that is when genuine negotiations often take place.
Be particularly cautious of a PSI or pre-sentence investigation.
Pre-sentence investigation is when a client pleads guilty to the sentencing judge, but before rendering judgement the probation department will conduct an investigation of the defendant and the circumstances surrounding the crime charged and put it all into a report.
The judge will review the report and then will render judgment.
Only in rare cases have I recommended a client give it all up and let a judge decide what to do.
IMPORTANT: Judges are also politicians and must run for re-election. A campaign killer can be a reputation for being soft on crime. A few years back I was hired on a murder case, at the last moment by a hapless client whose inept attorney recommended he plea guilty to a PSI three weeks before trial. What he didn’t tell his client was that the trial judge had made her bones (reputation) as being particularly tough on violent crime. I later found out the judge would have given him (my client) 40 years in prison. We had three weeks to prepare for trial and after a week long trial. Raymond Pena was found not guilty.
Can I get My Money Back from my First Attorney?
It’s been my experience that once you’ve paid an attorney you are going to have a difficult time getting a refund. We are hired on many cases that are approaching the (“shit or get off the pot disposition day) a.k.a take the plea or set it for trial date, and have assisted clients on refunds but have found that the vast majority of incompetent criminal defense lawyers will not refund any amount.
At this point, you should be considering the importance of your liberty and why it’s worth investing in the best possible attorney to fight for you. The money you spent on your first attorney should be seen as a lesson learned, not something to dwell on.
What is important now is finding the best attorney to represent you and protect your rights. Don’t let a bad experience with one attorney deter you from seeking effective legal representation.
You don’t need to face the justice system alone. If you need help resolving a criminal matter, please don’t hesitate to reach out and call us today at (713) 228-4607.
Would filing a grievance with the Texas State Bar against the attorney be beneficial?
At this point in time, you are running out of time to trial and the State Bar works slowly. The chances that the State Bar will resolve this matter before your trial date is slim to none.
That being said, the members of a state bar lawyer disciplinary committee are comprised of mostly competent and diligent member/attorneys and do not take kindly to poor legal representation and money paid for services not rendered.
The committee has the power to recommend revocation or suspension of a law license and at times will act as a sort of collection agency for the aggrieved client.
My Lawyer Says I Owe More Money if I Set it for Trial
If your lawyer has told you that they will not go to trial without more money, review your contract.
Some attorneys have a bifurcated fee schedule. A bifurcated fee schedule is one where one fee is for a case disposition and an additional fee if the case is set for trial. In some cases a bifurcated fee schedule is ok but only under unusual circumstances ie., a case that should easily work out but could become complex due to predictable but as yet unforeseen circumstances.
At our law firm, we don’t believe in charging additional fees for a trial. Most of the time we charge one fee because we accept a case with the understanding the case gets dismissed or we will set it for trial.
By setting a one-fee-covers-all agreement, we are able to build trust with our clients and eliminate the mistrust that can arise when a client wonders if the trial setting is done to jack-up the fee.
What Kind of Experience Should I Look for in a New Attorney?
If you are looking to hire a new attorney and you don’t want to go through the same experience again, the most important thing you should look for CASE RESULTS.
I can’t overemphasize the importance of case results.
Many so called “criminal defense attorneys” have minimal trial experience, if any. Your lawyer should have many years of trial experience along with a high percentage of cases that end with the magic words, “not guilty.”
Competency with plea negotiations is extremely important but in order to be a powerful negotiator the attorney must have extensive trial experience.
Competent seasoned trial attorneys carry a lot of weight around the courthouse and will always make a prosecutor think twice before recommending a plea bargain.
Always look for the CASE RESULTS tab on the lawyers website and carefully examine their case dismissals and not guilty verdicts. You can look at our case results here.
Some lawyers that have only assisted in trial as a second chair/assistant will claim the victory for themselves so look to see if the attorney you’re interviewing has the case court number and cause number listed. If they do not, move on.
It is very easy to check out case results by Googling the Texas State Bar and finding your attorneys bar number number then go to the Harris County District Clerks website and check-in with the attorneys bar number.
Every case the attorney has had along with the case results will be listed.
Look for an Attorney Who Focuses Their Practice on Criminal Defense
Don’t trust your fate to an attorney who only dabbles in criminal defense. You need a lawyer who focuses their practice solely on criminal law and has extensive experience handling cases similar to yours.
For criminal cases always look for a criminal law specialist, if an attorney is Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization that means the attorney is one out of a hundred attorneys that has earned this distinction in the practice of criminal law. To be Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, you must have extensive experience in all aspects of criminal law, i.e., jury trials, plea negotiations and appeals etc, and are only approved after a grueling day long test.
By hiring a specialized criminal defense attorney, you can ensure that your case is in the hands of a qualified and experienced professional who knows how to effectively defend you.
Unfortunately there are many lawyers that make a living practicing many areas of law, such as wills and probate, personal injury etc. Lawyers who don’t have experience in the criminal defense field often let the prosecutor make a plea bargain than will- talk, bully, intimidate, lie- the client into accepting the offer, whether the plea bargain is fair or not.
Should I Hire a Court-Appointed Attorney?
It is always in your best interest to hire a private attorney over a court-appointed one.
Avoid court appointed attorneys, in order to keep judges referring them cases they often will do the courts bidding and attempt to work pleas quickly with no thought or investigation to the matter charged.
The Houston Chronicle did an expose on the court appointed attorneys that are paid close to a million dollars a year, (yes $1,000,000) or close to it, pleading 100s of cases and in the process ruining countless lives.
A court appointed attorney, while perhaps well-meaning, will most likely not have the time or resources to give your case the attention it deserves.
The first felony case I was appointed when I was a baby lawyer turned into a full blown jury trial and needless to say I was never appointed to another case in that court.
This is one of the many reasons I refuse to accept court appointments. Beware of “free world” attorneys with hundreds of cases, there are some attorneys with close to a 1000 active cases and many more with hundreds of cases. Any criminal attorney with more than 50 active felony cases at one time is cheating their clients and probably would not go trial unless threatened with execution.
On top of all of that, some of these charlatans advertise they have the “highest dismissal rate of all criminal defense attorneys in Houston and probably in Texas!” Easy to do when you take a plea for 40 years on a weak sexual assault allegation and the prosecutor dismisses the eight other charges such as reckless driving, assault, improper photograph etc.
Call the Criminal Defense Attorneys at Jack B. Carroll & Associates
As they say in the financial sector before buying a stock, “do your due diligence, thoroughly research a stock before investing in it.” Your freedom is worth much more important than money, so do your due diligence and carefully investigate your lawyer before hiring.
If you are looking for a second opinion or need a Houston criminal defense lawyer, do not hesitate to contact us at Jack B. Carroll & Associates.
Here are our case results. Here are our client reviews.
You don’t need to face the justice system alone. If you need help resolving a criminal matter, please don’t hesitate to reach out and call us today at (713) 228-4607.