Denver criminal defense lawyer / employer reactions to drugs

This isn't something I strictly deal with as a Denver criminal defense lawyer, but it is close to my heart because I have clients who deal with drug possession charges. It appears the Supreme Court will not hear a challenge to a law that allows companies to fire employees for taking controlled substances. That includes medical marijuana even if the patient has a perfectly valid prescription.

Essentially it works like this. Employment law cases start in a totally different court system than criminal law cases. When you apply for unemployment benefits, it goes to an administrative law judge. These are judges who deal with a different sort of law that exists totally under the governor. They don't really look at the statutes as much as the administrative code. In this case, even though the employer challenged the application for benefits, the employees won.

The employer then challenged that ruling to a district court. That's a more typical court, part of the judicial branch instead of the executive, charged with applying the laws and constitution, etc. In that court, the employer won. After two more appeals, that's become final. Like I said though this isn't a problem for criminal defense lawyers, it does indicate something about the state of marijuana law among the judicial branch. Probably the only real chance that this actually gets changed is through referendum.

Denver criminal defense lawyer / waiting

One of the things I do a lot of as a Denver criminal defense lawyer is wait around. Is this a dirty little secret? Does that mean I don't add value for you in helping solve your legal issue? Hardly. For one, you basically need competent counsel to avoid being screwed over in the system, which is incredibly complex and difficult to navigate. Second, a lawyer will save you time out of your day and will be able to handle the lines more efficiently than you can.

If you try to go through and handle your case on your own, you'll find you wait in a ton of lines. There is a line to talk to the judge at the arraignment. There is a line to wait for the clerk and set the next date. There is a line at the collections window if you want to pay that day. And of course it's important to get there early to make sure you don't piss off the judge. You're already in enough trouble. And court doesn't operate at a different time from your job or other obligations. That means you've got to take time off, lose money, and generally sit around a lot.

So one thing a Denver criminal defense lawyer can do for you is wait in a lot of lines for you. We usually don't have to wait in exactly the same lines. Some of the hearings can be waived. Some courts give priority to represented parties so Denver criminal defense lawyers can meet with the prosecutor or the judge right away. Otherwise, an attorney can frequently schedule several clients together so he only has to meet with the prosecutor once. That means where it would take you an hour to wait in line, a lawyer only takes a few minutes out of his day, and can save you money effectively.

Denver criminal defense lawyer / competence and fear

When you hire a Denver criminal defense lawyer, you might think there is an obligation that he will be competent. Well, there is. It's rule #1 of attorney ethics. But it's also a pretty complicated and difficult thing to enforce. First of all, a client hires the lawyer to be an expert. How's the client supposed to know when the lawyer is acting competently or not? The answer is they often don't. Obviously if a lawyer screws up enough, a prosecutor will see it, or a diligent client will finally catch on. But still, some of this stuff is scary.

 In this vein I bring you Brian Rakofsky. Although he's not a Denver criminal defense lawyer (he practices in New Jersey), the story is instructive here. Basically straight out of law school he decided he could handle a murder trial. First chair, without help. The prosecution offered his client five years in prison. He told his client to turn down the offer. He then proceeded to completely screw up the trial, to the point where the judge had no choice but to declare a mistrial. Rakofsky had no idea what he was doing, to the point where he apparently couldn't serve process on witnesses. He was happy about the mistrial, with no regard for the fact that (1) his client was sitting in jail the whole time and (2) he had taken the 5 year offer off the table and his client would not be sentenced to 10 years.

And what did the State Bar of New Jersey do? Nothing, at least yet. He had his licensed suspended for a few months for failing to pay his fees (lawyers are always really concerned about money). But other than that, he'll be free to take more clients assuming he can get them, having had his professional reputation sullied all over the internet. I'd like to say you couldn't say the same thing for Denver criminal defense lawyers, but I'm sure there are some bad eggs out there willing to take your money. So pay attention to your lawyer's experience, and more importantly make sure your lawyer knows what he's doing when it comes down to the actual trial.

Denver criminal defense lawyer / value added

In addition to being a Denver criminal defense lawyer, I'm also a big fan the the National Basketball Association. One thing that's even more clear with the NBA than with the law is that it's all about money. Particularly, it is all about how much value a player is adding to his team in relation to his salary. This isn't just about the owner's pocket book, it's also about putting a winning team out there. You see if an NBA team is paying Rashard Lewis like LeBron James (he's actually making more, can you believe that?) they can't spend the money elsewhere and can't win games. So a team needs to figure out how much value a player is adding in terms of how many games he's helping the team win.

You should do the same when looking for a Denver criminal defense lawyer. Attorneys fees are not cheap. There are a couple things you can do to make sure your lawyer is adding value. First, just ask. For minor traffic infractions and offenses, it's possible an attorney's fee simply won't be worth it. Sometimes the plea deal we can get is no better than the one you get simply by paying the ticket, then you'll have to pay the fee which might be as much as the ticket in the first place. It's worth having a Denver criminal defense lawyer look at the ticket, because it's possible he can get it dismissed, but don't pay unless you are relatively certain it will be worth it.

In cases where it's not this simple, the calculus is a lot more basic. Lawyers do add value, because you probably have no clue how to go about handling your own case for 90% of crimes or offenses. Even the plea bargain involves complicated considerations about the probability of winning at trial that a person with experience can help you with tremendously. So tread carefully with more serious stuff, but for a traffic ticket make sure you are getting some value for your fee.

Denver criminal defense lawyer / affirmative defenses

On the Denver criminal defense lawyer blog, I've already talked some about burdens of proof for different things in a criminal case. The most important one is obviously reasonable doubt which is the standard the state must prove a defendant's guilt beyond, but beyond that there are a number of others. The primary one is that a defendant must prove any affirmative defenses himself. Generally those must be proved by the preponderance of the evidence. That means your Denver criminal defense lawyer has to martial evidence so that the jury or judge in the case believes it's more likely than not the facts asserted happened. There are two major affirmative defenses I'll address here. The first is the alibi. In the case of an alibi, the burden is on the defendant to prove that he was not there. This makes sense to an extent. The prosecutor should not be asked to disprove the fact that someone was somewhere else, especially if they've already made the defendant's presence at the crime scene part of the case.

To make things more difficult for defendants and Denver criminal defense lawyers, the defendant must also provide notice of his intention to use the alibi defense. Again this makes a certain amount of sense since it really is the defendant putting the system on its head by creating a case of his own instead of just popping holes in the prosecution's case. However, it does deprive the defendant of a crucial tool that he's able to use in almost every other situation: the element of surprise. Instead of being able to ambush the state's witnesses with new information, the defendant has to open himself up to full investigation and possible manipulation of the witnesses who will be specifically on notice to disprove the alibi defense before it is even brought up. So though it makes some sense in terms of being fair to the state, the element of surprise at trial can be a key tool of other parts of the case and it might be asked why you're not allowed to use it here.

Denver criminal defense lawyer / how change happens

Here is an encouraging story about reduction in drug possession penalties being proposed in Colorado. It is also fairly instructive of what it takes to get the laws changed.

Republican Sen. Shawn Mitchell, one of the lawmakers leading the way on the legislation, has spoken publicly about the toll meth addiction has taken on his younger brother and said he wants a more sensible approach against drugs. He said his brother is "on a strong path to recovery."

"The war on drugs has made government more powerful, citizens less free, and hasn't helped users or addicts," Mitchell said. "I want to push a smarter effort against drugs. I want to stop piling people into prisons and stop branding people with a felony for a personal weakness."

Mitchell said he questioned the government's handling of drug crimes even before his experience with his brother.

As you can probably tell from this Denver criminal defense lawyer blog, I have a number of issues with the way the system is set up. From the ability of people to get things sealed from their record, to unclarity in the criminal code, there are a variety of issues that really need to be addressed. Unfortunately the only real way this ever happens is when someone in a position of power is personally touched by the issue. That's why we get huge congressional inquiries into white collar crime where the middle class is defrauded, but there is never any real concern about the brutal costs of prison on the less fortunate. Unfortunately there isn't much to be done here, except to get the less fortunate to be more involved in decision making. Of course one gigantic group of the less fortunate (felons) can't even vote! Ever in their lives! So it's up to Denver defense lawyers and also those that care about these issues despite not being directly affected to be active on behalf of those without a voice.

Denver criminal defense lawyer / co-defendants

Although it's not particularly common in the DUI and run-of the mill general cases I accept normally as a Denver criminal defense lawyer, co-defendants are fairly common in larger and more complex Colorado criminal cases. And they bring up a number of interesting issues. A big one, which I'll cover here, is a serious issue of attorney ethics. If you and a friend are charged with say conspiracy to distribute drugs, the prosecutor may charge the two of you together. He may bring the same evidence and the same charges against both of you. It may sound like a good idea to share a lawyer (or a couple lawyers, if it took a whole crew to distribute the drugs, it might take more than one Denver criminal defense lawyer to help you out). That will save you money, and keep you on the same side for the moment.

The problem is when there is a situation where the attorney must sort of choose sides. What if it comes out that one defendant is believed to be more culpable by the prosecution? The prosecution would then probably seek the testimony of the other defendant, in exchange for possibly a sweetheart deal. At that point, how does the attorney provide competent representation to both parties? He knows that if he advises the second defendant to take the plea, he will be screwing over the first defendant. But on the other hand he also has an obligation to make sure the second defendant gets the best outcome in this case. The attorney may even question if he can continue representing either party, since he will have information from both given to him in confidence. The conclusion is, your friends may not stay your friends if you are charged with a crime. Also, please hire your own lawyer, don't split one with a friend.