How long can a DA not charge you " at this time"

[johnwilliamson062]

Your right, assuming a PD ONLY works 80 hours a week was a flawed strategy for an internet forum discussion. I should have funded an extensive nationwide study.
Like I said, I don't care enough to send a $5 check to a legal aid organization. The articles I linked were the first few that popped up on google. Googling a few articles and dividing that caseload by reasonable work hours is the full extent of my interest in this discussion. I'm not from Florida where the numbers are from. That is simply the first thing that came up. Anyone who's interest is sparked can look into the full PDF reports that are available from most of the states with statewide PD systems. Those numbers from Florida are more than enough to make most people raise an eyebrow.

 

[Spats McGee]

And one of the most important parts of his job is to make sure that same paperwork filed over and over by the bored paper pushers was done correctly. That there were no clerical mistakes, breaks in the chain of custody, etc. That is extremely important and I would never consider a defense where that was not performed to meet minimal standards. I would definitely fire a private attorney in my employ if they said something like that. Something like documentation(or lack there of) of a breathalyzer being correctly calibrated is where those cases are won and lost. If you are poor and have a PD, you just lose.

Then you'd be a fool of a client. What, exactly, makes you think that the PD in our court doesn't "meet minimal standards?" A good lawyer who knows a given area (& the peculiarities of a given judge), knows what's important and what's not, and can identify those items at a glance. For example, if Lines 1-8 aren't make-or-break items for a case, why waste time on them? Especially if you know that no signature on line 10 would mean the exclusion of the Blood Alcohol Content results? In that case, you go straight for line 10.

I do the same thing from my side of the aisle. The Arrest/Disposition Report is interesting, but it's not admissible and won't make or break the case, unless there are some obvious and large errors, and even then, it's a matter of impeachment of the officer. Same thing with the Incident Report. Step 1: Make sure I'm looking at the right report. Step 2: Read the narrative. Step 3: Check the BAC ticket for the permissible variance. Step 4: Check calibration. Step 5: Go ask officers to walk me through the stop. Step 6: Either make a deal or try it.

2,725 cases a year.
Lets assume they work 80 hours a week with to weeks vacation and are present and working on their cases 100% of the time they are at work. NO facebook. No travel time. No waiting in the court room for their case to come up. No waiting in between the clients being shuffled in to a meeting. No schmoozing with private practice attorney or prosecutor they want to hire them. Absolute efficiency and everything happens instantly. That is 4000 hours to spend on cases.
That is less than 90 minutes a case.

Do you assume that the lawyers are the only employees of a PD office? Around here, they have paralegals and investigators, as well. I'm not saying that they're not stretched thin. They most assuredly are. But you seem to think that they have to be out pounding pavement to "get leads" to defend a case. More likely, they call the prosecutor, get a copy of the file, hand it over to the investigator & tell that person to go track down leads. The lawyer will then follow up.

ETA: I'm not saying that thorough research isn't sometimes called for. But some cases require a keener eye, and more intensive research than others.

 

[Frank Ettin]

Your right, assuming a PD ONLY works 80 hours a week was a flawed strategy for an internet forum discussion. I should have funded an extensive nationwide study.....

No, it's simply always inappropriate to base conclusions on unvalidated assumptions. And the correct word to use is "you're" not "your."

 

[jmr40]

They spent 4 or 5 years in jail with no trial? Is this a typo or is something like this possible?

Read the link in my post. The murderer and his girlfriend were kept in the county jail for 4 years before he agreed to testify against his lover. At that time he plead guilty with no trial, only a hearing where he was sentenced to life with no parole. His girl friend plead guilty to manslaughter charges a year later and got 20 years minus the 5 already behind bars counting.

This was a high profile case that made national, and international news. The DA's office was making sure everything was right because they were a small town office under the microscope. As said they got it right and justice was served. But I have to wonder about the possibility of an innocent person being held that long with no chance to have their day in court.