What state are you in?

New jersey

Hire your private attorney. Make sure he has experience in sex offenses.

THEN talk to him about getting a psych evaluation done. A favorable evaluation from an unbiased third party will really help you, but I would not get one done until I had hired the private attorney and talked to him about it.

Not all, but many DAs and judges will look favorably at a third part psych evaluation done by a professional. One thing for sure---it can't hurt. It may really help him in the plea bargain stage.

rewdiazepam

Ok but am I going to have to pay for the evaluation

I am so confused idk what to do everyone is telling me something diffrent

If it helps him with his case, it will be money well worth spent.

If the favorable psych evaluation knocks years off his sentence, you will thank yourself everyday for getting it done.

rewdiazepam

As a general rule a defendant has to pay for the psych evaluation regardless of whether or not he has a PD or a private attorney. If for some reason he is able to have the evaluation done at no cost because he currently has a PD then he should probably get it done that way since evaluations are expensive.

Be careful if you have a PD and get a psych evaluation It would be as Dr. hired by the state not an independent.

I paid $2,500 for one from a court recognized Dr. but the judge never read it. (It was favorable). Not sure if the prosecutor read it or not but the fact that I had one ready made a statement.

I paid an attorney $15,000 . $10,000 was a non refundable retainer and $5,000, was refundable, for him to use if need be. The psych evaluation came out of the $5,000 refundable, I believe it cost about a bit less than $1500 for the evaluation. I feel it was worth the money. My son got 3.5 yrs, instead of 10-30 years he might have received. I believe it was because of this attorney. I would not trust a PD or who they want to get for the evaluation, even if it was free. As Rew said, make sure the attorney deals in sex offenses. Also that you and your husband feel confident about. Thankfully family members helped me pay the attorney fees, and it was well worth it. Hire an attorney before you do anything else. God Bless You and your loved ones.

@Scared: I agree with Rew. Stick with the private attorney, make sure he has handled sex offense cases. Asking how successful he has been is absolutely fair. Once you get the private attorney, talk to him about the pysch eval. The psych eval is important. Some judges don't care. In many states, the eval is required for sentencing.

You will have to pay for the eval. Getting the eval before trial is a good thing, because your attorney can use it to show that your guy is of lower risk. I had two evals and had to pay for both. My attorney was completely shocked that the judge wanted another eval, as my initial eval should have been enough.

The Dr. I used was one the court had used for the state side before so he was well respected by the court. We just got him before the state did...

Ok he finally called me yesterday around 8pm I told him why I felt we should get the attorney now I told him to call his mom and tell and call me back he never called me back hopefully he calls me early today he was to busy playing cards to call ugh