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Originally Posted by kstahley
He was represented by a public defender. She seemed to be of little help.
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Yeah, this is not a surprise. Attorneys and the courts are dangerous to ones freedom, in general. Public defenders are often overworked, poorly paid, and poorly motivated, its not their can on the line.
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Originally Posted by kstahley
There is a stigma that goes with this crime. As soon as a man is accused, he has an uphill climb to shake the monkey off his back. I feel very strongly that he is innocent due to the evidence that he had.
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Make sure that he (you) keeps the evidence handy. You may need to do most of the work on this yourself. You may want to check the state constitution, rules of criminal, and judical procedure. Try to look up information on appeals, see what rule the judge was talking about, etc.
You may be able to find this information online, or try the link(s) below:
http://www.lexisnexis.com/
http://lp.findlaw.com/
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Originally Posted by kstahley
Does anybody know if it is possible for me to access any information (ie. evidence) from his case?
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Since there is a plea agreement, I am not sure what evidence will be on the record. However, you may want to go to the courthouse to find what you are looking for. Of course your friend may have some of the information that you will need, he can testify regarding what happened.
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Originally Posted by kstahley
Is this available under Freedom of Information Act?
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I am not too familiar with this, however, I think that this is for federal information.
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Originally Posted by kstahley
I do not know that an appeal is possible b/c of his plea bargain.
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Check the information I have provided, talk to your friend, ask around. It may be difficult, because generally the plea bargain is similar to an admission of guilt. It seems that you will need to show that your friend's
rights were violated, such as being denied
due process, by not being given a chance to present evidence, and/or lied to, poor legal representation, etc.
More info:
http://www.constitution.org/bouv/bouvier.htm
http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?... urtab=2083_1