Alabama Criminal Defense Legal Questions

If you were assaulted in a nightclub and the management failed to provide adequate security to prevent such violence, you may have a security negligence claim against the establishment. It’s advisable to retain an attorney in your jurisdiction, potentially on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay nothing unless you win the case.     ... Read More

It takes a bit of law to answer this question, and a bit of an ability to predict the future. First, let's get the offense down right.  If you or anyone else was present when he took your things, it was a robbery.  If he went into your abode when neither you nor anyone else was there, it was a burglary.   Not that it matters in the context of your question. The answer is yes, you can be charged, and possibly you will be, because one way he can lessen his sentence is by means of a plea bargain under the terms of which he tells the police where he got the controlled substance. Its not possible to tell whether the police will care enough about this to charge you.  If they do, if its your first offence, and if its truly an ounce or less, its only a misdemeanor.  If you've been found guilty of that offense previously, or if the quantity was more than an ounce, its a felony. But maybe he smoked it.  If he did, its gone and there's no evidence other than his testimony.  If the evidence has been smoked up, its highly unlikely they would charge you.... Read More

You certainly have a right to file suit against the men who assaulted and raped you.  You possibly have a valid cause for suing the officers involved and also possibly the politcal entity (town or county) they work for, although too much time may have passed for such suits, depending on the precise circumstances.  Please consult with a competent lawyer who will sue law enforcement and the cities or counties they work for.  Not all lawyer will do that but many will and I'm sure you can find one.  But do not delay.  The second anniversary of your assault may prove to be the deadline for certain kinds of suits that can result from facts such as these. WARNING:  I am not your lawyer and providing you with the generic information, definition, clarification or explanation you seek about a legal matter on this anonymous forum does not make me your lawyer.  By answering your question I am only trying to provide you with general information that will deepen your understanding of the legal concept that appears to be an issue for you, that will hopefully guide you in selecting and communicating with a lawyer of your choosing.  The reason for all this is that legal problems are intensely fact-driven, and it is impossible to give anyone correct legal advice without comprehensive inquiry by the lawyer into the specific facts of the situation that concerns you, and the law of the jurisdiction in which you reside, and that is impossible to accomplish through this website.  Even though I am not your lawyer, if I should later become your lawyer no representation is made that the quality of the legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.  ... Read More

Well, not exactly, but you get an "A" for creativity.  Your question is whether you can make the court do a DNA test on the alleged paraphrenalia.  The answer is "no".  No one can make the court do anything.  (Well, that's not precisely true, but here it can safely be said that you can't make the court do a DNA test.) Another question would be can you make the prosecuting attorney do the test.  Again, the answer is "no".  What you might be able to do would be to get a court order letting an expert witness selected by you and paid by you, examine and test the items seized and, if the tests are favorable to your case the court might dismiss the case.  That's unlikely but the court might let that evidence be presented to the jury and let them decide what weight to give it. You probably can't get out of this without a good lawyer, and maybe not even then.  Depending on your age and your criminal record there are programs that would let your lawyer persuade the court to put the case on hold for a while, maybe send you to some drug education classes, and then, if you don't get into any more trouble, dismiss it. You have a constitutional right to defend yourself in court, but I wouldn't advise it.  You need a competent criminal defense who regularly practices in the court in which your case is pending.  We're not hard to find.  We're everywhere the courts are. WARNING:  I am not your lawyer and providing you with the generic information, definition, clarification or explanation you seek about a legal matter on this anonymous forum does not make me your lawyer.  By answering your question I am only trying to provide you with general information that will deepen your understanding of the legal concept that appears to be an issue for you, that will hopefully guide you in selecting and communicating with a lawyer of your choosing.  The reason for all this is that legal problems are intensely fact-driven, and it is impossible to give anyone correct legal advice without comprehensive inquiry by the lawyer into the specific facts of the situation that concerns you, and the law of the jurisdiction in which you reside, and that is impossible to accomplish through this website.  Even though I am not your lawyer, if I should later become your lawyer no representation is made that the quality of the legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.          ... Read More

Its possible for an attorney to file a limited appearance for the purpose of doing just that and nothing else, but you'll have to call an attorney and just ask the question about the cost, stressing that ALL you want is for him or her to file a limited appearance for the purpose of filing a waiver of arraignment and a plea of not guilty. But its not as simple as that sounds, because the attorney is required to explain to you the legal impact of what you're doing and what your duties and responsibilities will be going forward, and then he or she has to formally withdraw from the case.  Many attorneys simply will not do that, becauise they know you can get in a world of trouble trying to handle it yourself, and they don't want to help you do that.  Or, you could go to eforms.alacourt.gov and click on 'Criminal Forms' on the menu on the left, and then scroll down for Form CR 09, (or CR-9) 'Plea of Not Guilty and Waiver of Arraignment", print it out, fill it out and mail it to the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the County in which the indictment is pending.  That is a really bad idea, because you need an attorney to get you through the case with the best outcome possible, and you're not likely to do that successfully traveling that road by yourself.  I'm telling you this because you do have the Constitutional right to represent yourself, but be warned: That way there be dragons.  WARNING:  I am not your lawyer and providing you with the generic information, definition, clarification or explanation you seek about a legal matter on this anonymous forum does not make me your lawyer.  By answering your question I am only trying to provide you with general information that will deepen your understanding of the legal concept that appears to be an issue for you, that will hopefully guide you in selecting and communicating with a lawyer of your choosing.  The reason for all this is that legal problems are intensely fact-driven, and it is impossible to give anyone correct legal advice without comprehensive inquiry by the lawyer into the specific facts of the situation that concerns you, and the law of the jurisdiction in which you reside, and that is impossible to accomplish through this website.  Even though I am not your lawyer, if I should later become your lawyer no representation is made that the quality of the legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.  ... Read More

The Court Clerk is in one place and the County Jail is in another place.  When the judge lowers the bond that must be communicated to the jail, and sometimes that takes a while.  Go to the offices of the Circuit Court.  There are several divisions within the Clerk's office.  Ask to speak to one of the clerks in the criminal division.  Tell that Clerk your problem, that the judge lowered the bond but the jail doesn't know that yet.  Ask the Clerk to advise the jail that the bond has been lowered.  That should enable her to make bond at $11,000.00.... Read More

If you have been issued a subpoena to appear in court, then failing to appear in court could result in the judge holding you in contempt of court. You could be fined or sentenced to a brief period of incarceration for contempt of court. Because you would be violating a court's order by not appearing, a warrant for your arrest could be issued in order to bring you in so as to be held accountable for the contempt of court charge,... Read More

You would need to look at the wording of the statute that contains the crime with which you were charged. The statute will lay out the elements of the crime, and relevant court opinions may further clarify these elements and apply them to fact patterns that are similar to yours. This is something that an attorney is trained to do, so it will require you to do some research and there may be a learning curve for you if you attempt to represent yourself pro se. Unless you have already attended an initial hearing, you will not have a chance to defend yourself or put forth any sort of reasoning for your actions at this first hearing. The initial hearing is usually just for you to meet with the prosecutor and determine if any plea deals are on the table, and for you to announce to the court whether you are pleading innocent or guilty. If you plead innocent, then a trial date will be set. Prior to a trial, there could be various hearings, motions, discovery, etc. Again, if you are not familiar with any of this, then it will require research on your part to learn how to properly handle these issues and not detrimentally affect your chances at winning the case. It would be best if you retained an attorney as soon as possible. At least one of the statements you've made in this post could already be detrimental to your case if the prosecution were to find this post and reasonably link it to you, so I think that you should seek representation so as to prevent further damage to your case.... Read More

You're effectively asking for advice on how to avoid arrest due to an outstanding warrant. Unfortunately, no attorney can ethically provide you that type of advice. As difficult as it may be, I would suggest trying to resolve the warrant. Otherwise, you're going to constantly run into situations where you have to find a way to elude authorities. Depending on what you do to evade the warrant and how zealous the prosecutor is, this could lead to additional charges being tacked on when it comes time to pay the piper.... Read More

Regardless of whether there is an agreement in writing, attorneys are ethically required to account for their time and insure that the amount they charge is a reasonable fee for the work completed. I would advise that you ask the attorney to provide an accounting of their billable hours and any expenses incurred. If the amount of work that they have completed is not sufficient to warrant a fee of $1,250, then they are obligated to return any unearned fees should you choose to end their representation of you. If they refuse to provide an accounting of their time and expenses, or if they provide an accounting but refuse to return any unearned fees, then you would need to file a complaint with the Alabama State Bar. Doing a Google search for "Alabama State Bar complaint against lawyer" should lead you to a PDF file that provides the form and explains the complaint process. Without knowing the details of your legal issue, I can't offer an opinion as to whether $2,500 for reviewing documents and another $2,500 for filing court motions is a reasonable fee. Additionally, I don't know the hourly rate of the attorneys or what costs may be incurred by them for filing costs, costs of discovery, etc., so I don't know if these fees are reasonable. The best thing to do is to ask for an accounting of time spent so far to determine whether they've overcharged you for the work currently completed. If they have, then chances are the quoted fees for the other services are also inflated.... Read More

You will need to speak to the prosecutor and judge about this. If a case is "dismissed," then there is no guilty plea. Deferred judgments are not referred to as "dismissals." In a dismissal, the charges are dropped, meaning that the prosecution chooses not to move forward with the case and dismisses it entirely. If you enter a guilty plea, then this is not a dismissal. Therefore, I'm not sure why they would fill out a document that says "Upon a plea of guilty," the case will be dismissed. It's possible that they use the form for plea deals for dismissals as well, but I would have been hesitant to sign any document that mentions anything about you pleading guilty if the intent of the document was a dismissal. Check with the court clerk first and see what their records state in regard to your case. If it is reflected as a dismissal on the official court records, then I wouldn't be too worried about it, as it wouldn't show up as a conviction on your record if the court records properly show it as a dismissal. If the court records don't reflect it as a dismissal or anything seems unclear with the records, then I would ask to schedule a time to speak to the prosecutor and judge to determine why there are documents in the system suggesting that you entered a plea of guilty.... Read More

If you plead not guilty to a criminal charge, then the court will set a date for your trial. While you do have the right to represent yourself, it is not advised that you attempt to prepare and present a defense at trial without the assistance of an attorney. If you are unable to afford an attorney, then you can request that an attorney be appointed to assist you. However, you would need to submit financial information showing that you are financially unable to retain an attorney. As far as filing a civil lawsuit against multiple entities, again, I would advise that you consult with a plaintiff's attorney before moving forward with any lawsuit. If you file suit against "whoever and whatever" you can sue, then you run the risk of the court determining that you are filing frivolous lawsuits, and the judge could order that you pay the defendants' court costs. You want to make sure that you have a legitimate claim to bring against the appropriate defendant(s), and the best way to do that is to consult with a plaintiff's attorney.... Read More

I will readily admit that I have not kept up with legislative changes as they relate to drones. However, your line of questioning tends to suggest that "regular" laws related to privacy would be in play. If you're trying to see how low you can get your drone over private property, or how close you can get the drone to other people, then you're playing a dangerous game with invasion of privacy laws, nuisance torts, and a variety of other potential legal violations or causes of civil action. Many legal analysts have even suggested that drones can be legally shot down by private citizens under certain circumstances, so you are risking a lot when you send your drone to property that you don't have a legal right to be on. Unless you have a commercial activity that requires you to fly a drone over someone else's property (at which point I believe you require a license or waiver from the FAA), I would not suggest trying to push the legal limits by sending your drone onto someone else's property or in their personal space.... Read More

Whether you are entitled to a refund depends on what work the attorney has done so far and whether the $1,300 paid to him/her could be considered a reasonable fee for the work completed. You should ask the attorney for an accounting of his/her time spent on the case, as well as any fees incurred. If the billable hours and fees would be less than $1,300, then you'd have an argument that the attorney shouldn't be able to keep the entire $1,300 as a reasonable fee. However, the attorney would be entitled to keep part of it for work completed, and would ethically only be bound to return the unearned portion of the fee.... Read More

This would depend on the nature of your offense. Generally speaking, if you are on probation, then that probation term is in lieu of any sentence that you would serve. If you fail to complete your probation, then the underlying sentence could be reinstated. As such, the time that you would serve (if any) for failing to meet the terms of your probation depends on what your sentence was.... Read More

No, you as the victim may drop your charges at any time. The DA will threaten that he will prosecute you for filing a false report but they rarely do so. It is typically a tactic to get you to follow through with the case since they don't like to withdraw or dismiss cases. But even if they did charge you with filing a false report - it is not false. New evidence came to light that was in regards to why the incident happened.... Read More

The individual will likely face charges related to the possession and transmission of controlled or illegal substances. If you press charges for identity theft, then they will face those charges as well. When you state that you don't feel this is "sufficient," I'm not sure what you mean or what else you would expect. The person will be charged with the crime(s) they committed. They can't be charged with anything else if they didn't do anything else. If you feel that you suffered some sort of damage as a result of the identity theft, then you may be able to sue the person in civil court, but you would have to have actual damages that can be proven and for which a judgment could be entered.... Read More

Many people assume that if their Miranda rights aren't read, then the arrest was invalid and the charges must be thrown out. This is not true. Your Miranda rights apply to statements that you may make subsequent to an arrest or otherwise while being detained. These rights, when read, inform you that anything you say can be used against you in a court of law, and that you have the right to have an attorney present during questioning. If you are not read your rights, then it's possible that anything you said after the arrest or while you were detained would be inadmissible as evidence during your trial. The results of the search of the car, however, would still be admissible, assuming that the search was legally conducted. An officer's failure to read your Miranda rights doesn't affect the legality of the search, as it only applies to statements you make after arrest or during detainment.... Read More

I would suggest filing a complaint with the state bar. They will contact him to discuss the complaint, and he will be expected to respond and give a reason as to why he is not providing you with an agreement that you signed. I would assume that there is no ethical rule or law that would prohibit him from giving you this document, and I would also assume that he has an ethical obligation to provide you with this document, but I can't give you a definitive answer on either of those issues, as you are asking Alabama attorneys about a matter that takes place outside of Alabama.... Read More