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were you treated well by your public defender??

harpssong
harpssong
so my bf is awaiting trial for his crimes. we can't afford an attorney so have a court appointed one. I know he is super busy and doesn't have time to hold my hand, which I'm not asking for. I had 4 questions and only got two out before he basically made me feel like sh*t. I wanted to know if because my bf's looking at federal charges does that mean that he'll have to do the whole sentence or is there a chance for early parole!?! simple question I thought... he basically told me that he's told my bf not to discuss the case at all and that if he does then anything that comes back on his is his fault... I tried to explain that my bf was just trying to let me know about the additional charges and time because I'm pregnant and he just wanted me to know...
the lawyer just spoke over me dismissively and basically got across that he wasn't going to discuss anything with me and that I shouldn't call again.
did any of you have the same issue?? and was asking that question discussing specifics of the case??? should my bf not inform me of anything???
EffieSteffie
EffieSteffie
This is tough to say...My friend works da paralegal in the public defender's office. A lot of times you'll have relatives or nosy ex girlfriends calling trying to get the details of case. They don't specifically share information with anyone other than the person they are defending. Although Kurt and harsh, in his eyes, he's just protecting the rights of his client.
EffieSteffie
EffieSteffie
I love my android... Changes everything!

Anyway, what I wanted to add is that as far as public defenders are concerned... if they were to take every woman that called in to consideration every defendant would have 16 fiance's lol. It's the classic excuse.

You're just going to have to write down any questions that you might have and make sure that your fiance asks those questions for you.
worriedmompa
worriedmompa
I have private attorney for my son and he won't tell me anything without my son permission. He will take my money but he there for my son only and no one else.
rewdiazepam
rewdiazepam
Attorneys have a concept called "attorney-client privilege" and they cannot and will not discuss the case with anyone but the client. Since the client knows this, this allows a free exchange of conversation regarding the case between the attorney and client only. The client can tell his attorney anything---even the unfavorable things about his case----without worrying if the attorney will tell someone else.

An attorney cannot properly defend a client unless he know all the facts and some of those facts can only be disclosed by the client. This attorney-client privilege protects the client.

He could have answered your question concerning the possibility of parole in the federal system, but he did not. That question did not really have anything to do with your bf's case in particular.

No, there is no parole in the federal system. Parole was abolished in the mid-1980's. A federal inmate serves approximately 85% of his sentence before he is released.

rewdiazepam
faeryedark
faeryedark
Yep, I had a list of questions and concerns I gave to my husband to pass to his PD. The PD told him if he gave permission then he could speak to me. Usually, I still directed everything through my hubby tho
Nakohichi
Nakohichi
We have a private attorney. My sign had to sign off so I was included in the loop. But I'm his mom. I doubt they'd do it for gf
amynmesa
amynmesa
My brothers public defender was a complete piece of shit. I swear he was a bigger threat to my brother then the prosecutor was.
BrainInterrupted
BrainInterrupted
@harpssong: the PD cannot talk to you. Also, there is this problem of your BF talking to you. If you know something about your BF's charges, the prosecutor can call YOU to the stand. While this situation totally blows, it's the best thing. Really, your BF should tell you almost nothing.

@Rewdiazepam: you are 100% correct regarding the question on parole. Yes, parole was abolished in the Federal system under Reagan. Boo Hiss.
Kittyk96
Kittyk96
My son had a public defender here in NY State, he gave her permission to discuss the case with me, but she would only talk to me about his medical issues.
frogpond1
frogpond1
@efiesteffie Use the app Swiftkey! Excellent app for typing, word prediction and autocorrect.
frogpond1
frogpond1
I think in general PD's are good but are way overworked, underpaid and under staffed. Just look at the documentary Gideon's Army on Netflix.
EffieSteffie
EffieSteffie
HA! Thanks! Google keyboard hates me.
harpssong
harpssong
thank you everyone for the replies and info! and wow, 85%... that really blows :-(
rewdiazepam
rewdiazepam
Yeah, the 85% is one of the reasons that it is much worse if the feds pick up these cases. At the state level an inmate can whittle that down so that he serves less than 85% of his time with good time credits---if applicable---and taking extra programs in prison for extra good time credits.

The other reason is that in the federal system there are mandatory minimums for child porn. I think on the federal level the mandatory minimum for receipt of child porn is five years and there is no mandatory minimum on possession of child porn if it is a first time offense. Some states do not have mandatory minimums.

rewdiazepam
ksteeler
ksteeler
My husband must have given the PD permission to talk to me, because he certainly did. He was a nice enough guy, but completely ineffective. This was his first sex case ever in life (and very complicated) and he was up against the senior DA... He had no idea what to do.