Get an attorney right away, listen to the attorney’s advice. If you disagree with your attorney, discuss it with him. If you have questions, ask the questions.
You want somebody who knows the law, who knows the system and who knows the people. For example, if you regularly practice in this county, you have a pretty good feel for how the prosecutors handle this. How do the judge’s handle this?
The first thing I am going to do is look at the charging document and read what the government is saying the person did!
A lot of times, you will get a police report that will show many incriminating things and the client wants to tell you well, it is not me, I did not do this.
I have been doing this a long enough time that I know how things happen and how things occur and I can make pretty good judgment that does not mean that I am every time going to know whether you are telling me the truth or not!
I can read a police report and I have been reading many police reports and it is pretty clear that they are very few people who are not going to believe you did this!
If you have not told me the whole story, then when we go to trial or when we are negotiating, I can be blindsided.
Understanding that you are not going to win with the defense that you are suggesting, what other ways can we think about proceeding with this case.
Let us try to work out a plea agreement or somehow else resolve the case. You have got an absolute privilege when you talk with me about what you have done in the past. If you are telling me what happened, even if you admit to me that you committed a crime, I cannot go and tell anybody about that.
The job does not end with their confession to the lawyer. In fact, that might be where the job begins.
