ATT. People who know about the law!

[puffpuffPASSEDOUT]

I have an upcoming trial jan 2. Im trying to find out if I even need to get a lawyer for this case. Also im curious how you all think i should defend myself. Here are the facts:

here is the statement of probable casue:

on 22 november 08 at approx 0045 hrs, myself (p/o ) along with p/o were on the outside of ******** on foot patrol when we were told by security hat they needed help at ******. When arrived at ***, an employee of ****, mr.*******, stated that we needed to escort the suspect, later identified as (me), out of the bar and off the premises.

Investigation revealed that (I was) in the bar and was knocking things over and was asked to leave the premise by the staff of ***. When employees attempted to escort (me) off the premise, (I) swung around and elbowed *** employee mr.***** in the mouth.

Mr*** bottom lip had a small cut where he was elbowed. Mr.*** refused medical attention. p/o and myself the escorted (me) to C.B.I.F for common assault (2nd degree assault) with no other incident.





ok so now some background info on me:

Im a white 23 male, never been arrested before, but i did recieve a DUI per say back in 2006. I completed my probation and all 26 weeks of my court appointed alcohol classes. I havent had any problems since until now.

Ok so here are my questions.

1) Should i plead not guilty?

In no way did i intentionally hit this guy in the mouth. I had no intent to hurt anybody, its only when he had touched me and went to escort me off the premise that I spun around to confront whoever was touching me. 2nd degree assault is a serious offense and in no way do i think this applys to me. Maybe drunk and disorderly, but not assault.

631:2 Second Degree Assault. –
I. A person is guilty of a class B felony if he:
(a) Knowingly or recklessly causes serious bodily injury to another; or
(b) Recklessly causes bodily injury to another by means of a deadly weapon, except that if the deadly weapon is a firearm, he shall be sentenced in accordance with RSA 651:2, II-g; or
(c) Recklessly causes bodily injury to another under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life; or
(d) Purposely or knowingly causes bodily injury to a child under 13 years of age; or
(e) Recklessly or negligently causes injury to another resulting in miscarriage or stillbirth.
II. In this section:
(a) "Miscarriage'' means the interruption of the normal development of the fetus other than by a live birth and not an induced abortion, resulting in the complete expulsion or extraction of a fetus; and
(b) "Stillbirth'' means the death of a fetus prior to complete expulsion or extraction and not an induced abortion.
Source. 1971, 518:1. 1979, 126:2. 1985, 181:1. 1990, 95:3. 1991, 75:2, eff. Jan. 1, 1992.


2) Should i get a lawyer?

I understand that this is a serious charge against me but I feel it would be thrown out of the court becuase In no way did i intend to hurt this guy. I was just to drunk and it was an accident. Also i have like no money for a lawyer, so what good is a public defender vs me representing myself.

3)what should I do if i represent myself?

Based on what my charges are and the synopsis of the event what should I do when i go to court. I have an understanding but what could the judge come at me with that might prevent me from walking away from this.







I understand I could probably plead guilty and just get probation but I just came off being on probabtion for 18 months and I dont enjoy it at all.

So what is everyones thoughts/reply? I need as much help as i can get without getting a lawyer.

 

[funkdocKT]

youre not gonna serve any time...period...if you do, it will be "time served" for the time spent in CBIF

get you a lawyer...and YES, a public defender is a helluva lot better then you trying to do it yourself...your court date is exactly 2 weeks away and youre gonna want your representation to know as much about you and the case as early as possible...

1st...theyre gonna wanna try to talk down the 2nd Degree Assault because you didnt cause SERIOUS BODILY HARM...this will take referring other cases which you wont be able to do

in any case, fighting the charge is gonna cost time and money...however there's always the chance that the officers wont be able to make court, so the charges will just drop

its up to you...you can:

- eat it and and deal with probation
- have your rep. try to talk it down to a Drunk & Disorderly/Disturbing the Peace charge (both infractions)
- fight the whole thing and spend mad money and time in court

good luck

(PS...you supplied a lot of info...after your case closes, it becomes public and a lot of assholes/hackers on here are gonna be able to get a whole lot of personal info about you just based on you posting that piece of the police report...might wanna edit out the officers names to make it a tad harder)

 

[funkdocKT]

PS...this is soooooo what you get for not boning that girl a couple weeks back

 

[airman]

It might be kind of hard to prove unless there was any witnesses. See if they offer you any plea agreements and take it from there. Best of luck to you.

 

[Twistyman]

Seeing that he refused medical treatment and your fairly clean record you'll probably end up with basic misd. assault...probable fine...maybe a course for alcohol course..... just a guess.... here you'd get a public nuisance.. $75.00..
luck..

 

[puffpuffPASSEDOUT]

youre not gonna serve any time...period...if you do, it will be "time served" for the time spent in CBIF

get you a lawyer...and YES, a public defender is a helluva lot better then you trying to do it yourself...your court date is exactly 2 weeks away and youre gonna want your representation to know as much about you and the case as early as possible...

1st...theyre gonna wanna try to talk down the 2nd Degree Assault because you didnt cause SERIOUS BODILY HARM...this will take referring other cases which you wont be able to do

in any case, fighting the charge is gonna cost time and money...however there's always the chance that the officers wont be able to make court, so the charges will just drop

its up to you...you can:

- eat it and and deal with probation
- have your rep. try to talk it down to a Drunk & Disorderly/Disturbing the Peace charge (both infractions)
- fight the whole thing and spend mad money and time in court

good luck

(PS...you supplied a lot of info...after your case closes, it becomes public and a lot of assholes/hackers on here are gonna be able to get a whole lot of personal info about you just based on you posting that piece of the police report...might wanna edit out the officers names to make it a tad harder)

Thanks for the hacker heads up..I wasnt thinking str8 i guess...

I guess it is moronic to think about representing yourself in a criminal court case huh? lol ....I think im going to postpone the date because i havent found a lawyer yet. Someone told me that postponing looks bad on my part, so im not sure if i even want to.... I hope the Pubic Defenders office is open on monday

 

[puffpuffPASSEDOUT]

PS...this is soooooo what you get for not boning that girl a couple weeks back

Yeah my life has been fucked basically since the summertime. Things need to look up soon or who knows what im going to do


...Oh and ps she is a freaking hoe. I put her up on this pedestal for some reason but now that ive got to learn about her....Well lets just say she isnt the brightest girl lol. ....But we still talk....I mean I still have to seal the deal right?

 

[bigtittymilf]

tat doesnt sound like too big a deal and the problem with pleading not guilty is they will give you a much worse senrtance if they find you guilty i would probaly just gtet a public defender on that one and take the plea bargain they will probavbluy offer you a lesser charge for plea bargain and you will have to take an anger management class plus fines or something different states are different but if no one got seriously injured you wont get in much trouble i wouldnt think

 

[funkdocKT]

Someone told me that postponing looks bad on my part, so im not sure if i even want to

youre fine...they dont frown upon postponements...shiiiit, a lot of the time the DA will do that themselves

but get a lawyer and fight (gonna cost some gwop though) or just take the plea and lesser charge the Public Defender and DA work out

good luck and let us know how it goes

 

[puffpuffPASSEDOUT]

youre fine...they dont frown upon postponements...shiiiit, a lot of the time the DA will do that themselves

but get a lawyer and fight (gonna cost some gwop though) or just take the plea and lesser charge the Public Defender and DA work out

good luck and let us know how it goes

Thanks man...ill keep everyone posted

 

[Pseudonym]

Definitelly find counsel to help you out, but you may want to plead no contest instead of guilty or not guilty. No contest essentially means that you are neither confirming nor denying the charges against you, but are willing to accept a punishment in good faith that what you did was an accident.

If you plead guilty, there is nothing that says that the judge has to consider that it was an accident. Pleading guilty necessarily implies that you did everything described and that he can order you to do the maximum punishment allowable under the law.

If you plead not guilty and are found guilty, you end up wasting the court's time along with your own time and a lot of money. Judge's don't like to have their time wasted, especially by people who end up lying in order to try to get out of something.

Cop to what you did under a no contest plea and the judge will most likely want to hear you out. If you apologize, tell him about shit going on in your life, how it's not like you and that you could never see yourself doing something like that again, etc. he'll probably give you a pretty sympathetic punishment. He'll also appreciate your honesty and recognize that you're being responsible by owning up to what you did.

You may also want to contact the officer(s) telling him or them of your intention to plea no contest and to explain that it was an accident to the court. Never contact them in person though. Leaving a voicemail is probably best. But always be nice, even if they were dicks. You'd be surprised how many cops will stick up for you in court if you just own up to what you did and apologize.

I had to go to court and did all of this and the cop ended up saying that he believed every word I said and didn't think a severe punishment was necessary. I got off with a couple hundred dollar fine. Definitely not as bad as what could have happened.

Just be honest, judges really don't want to waste their time and energy on bullshit like this if you're just going to lie.

But definitely seek counsel to figure out all of your options. Good luck.

 

[peach]

it's going to depend almost entirely on how badly you hit him

if he's just got a tiny cut on his lip, you could easily plead innocent and say you were just turning around (why was your elbow at the same height as his face? where did he touch you? is there any special reason for you being jumpy that night?)

if you've smashed his face on purpose and he's had blood everywhere and people have seen it, plead guilty - especially if they have a CCTV tape lying around. if you lie and then that tape appears, you'll get more

 

[nickfury510]

you definatly want to get a lawyer for this...not public counsel a lawyer....if you loose this case it opens up the chance of a law suit by the manager...

 

[Pseudonym]

you definatly want to get a lawyer for this...not public counsel a lawyer....if you loose this case it opens up the chance of a law suit by the manager...

It doesn't matter if he wins or loses, the manager can still sue for damages and he is still liable for civil charges. This is just the criminal aspect of his actions.

 

[puffpuffPASSEDOUT]

Definitelly find counsel to help you out, but you may want to plead no contest instead of guilty or not guilty. No contest essentially means that you are neither confirming nor denying the charges against you, but are willing to accept a punishment in good faith that what you did was an accident.

If you plead guilty, there is nothing that says that the judge has to consider that it was an accident. Pleading guilty necessarily implies that you did everything described and that he can order you to do the maximum punishment allowable under the law.

If you plead not guilty and are found guilty, you end up wasting the court's time along with your own time and a lot of money. Judge's don't like to have their time wasted, especially by people who end up lying in order to try to get out of something.

Cop to what you did under a no contest plea and the judge will most likely want to hear you out. If you apologize, tell him about shit going on in your life, how it's not like you and that you could never see yourself doing something like that again, etc. he'll probably give you a pretty sympathetic punishment. He'll also appreciate your honesty and recognize that you're being responsible by owning up to what you did.

You may also want to contact the officer(s) telling him or them of your intention to plea no contest and to explain that it was an accident to the court. Never contact them in person though. Leaving a voicemail is probably best. But always be nice, even if they were dicks. You'd be surprised how many cops will stick up for you in court if you just own up to what you did and apologize.

I had to go to court and did all of this and the cop ended up saying that he believed every word I said and didn't think a severe punishment was necessary. I got off with a couple hundred dollar fine. Definitely not as bad as what could have happened.

Just be honest, judges really don't want to waste their time and energy on bullshit like this if you're just going to lie.

But definitely seek counsel to figure out all of your options. Good luck.

Much rep! thanks man for the advice.... No contest, That does sound like the best way to handle this.

...The DA postponed it already for another month so i have to wait til feb now. Hopefully my lawyer/Pub defender can get everything str8 by that time.

 

[puffpuffPASSEDOUT]

it's going to depend almost entirely on how badly you hit him

if he's just got a tiny cut on his lip, you could easily plead innocent and say you were just turning around (why was your elbow at the same height as his face? where did he touch you? is there any special reason for you being jumpy that night?)

if you've smashed his face on purpose and he's had blood everywhere and people have seen it, plead guilty - especially if they have a CCTV tape lying around. if you lie and then that tape appears, you'll get more

well the guy obviously refused medical attention so I know i didnt hit him that hard.

im 6'5 so when he touched me i geuss he was shorter than me? i cant remember...But still i as startled by someone touching me in a physical fashion so yes im going to turn around quickly and confront them. I just never got that far becuase i hit him and then was arrested quickly.



.... i know how to fight and ive never elbowed anyone in a fight my entire life. Its always been one punch...Bam your down. I never attempted to hit this guy intentionally so my case should be simple.

I just hope they ban me from the club, Give me a small fine and im on my way. I guess ill find out in feb


Ill keep yall posted

 

[smartsoverambition]

i know everyones said this but: LAWYER UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mos def try and get it taken dwn to disorderly conduct under the influence (but if they are assholes they may try and tack on vandalism i've seen it happen)

and public "defenders" SUCK they literally tell you to say your guilty

also try and look like a good guy who made a bad desicion enroll, in drug abuse counseling and anger management courses, anything to make you look good even if ur squeaky clean

best of luck, peace