Lisa Pelosi: Sometimes, if you are not successful in getting someone into a program, for treatment or maybe they don’t need treatment and they are on probation. Probation is essentially is a branch, an organization that takes individuals, who the courts and the DA’s have deemed to be not necessarily candidate to go to jail, and they want to get them some help. In probation they have to have an officer and they report to their officer. Often times they have to get tested for drugs and alcohol to make sure that they are living a law abiding life. Sometimes they want to help them and want them to get a job. Basically their lives are monitored by department of probation and if someone’s arrested, then they actually have violated their probation.
A Person Should be Very Cautious When Contemplating Getting Probation
I am always very cautious. People often times beg me to get them probation, and I have to explain to my clients that, if I get you probation; It’s a big commitment and that if you violate the probation by being rearrested or doing drugs or engage in any kind of anti-social behavior, and the probation officer finds that out. Then you can end up going to state prison for years. What I try to do if someone violates the probation, is to see what the violation is, and try to see why the person violated it, and try to get the judge to just restore the client to probation. Recently I had a case, where the person was sentenced to 5 years’ probation, and I was able to get him off probation, in the third year.
The Purpose of Probation is the Rehabilitation of a Potential Convict into a Respectable Member of Society
That was based on his psychiatric history, and realizing that having him on probation and I was not the only initial attorney, the original attorney on the case on having this individual, on probation was not going to work, because of his mental condition. It was hard for him to follow the rules, that probation set for him. So we had a very good judge and we worked really hard to get him off of probation and have him just live with his parents which was a better result where they could monitor him that he wasn’t being set up for failure.
The Importance of Retaining An Attorney To Defend a Drug Related Charge
Interviewer: I know I have been caught, I am guilty, why should I hire an attorney? What’s important about securing, securing an attorney for the drug case?
Lisa Pelosi: As with not just drug cases, but with any cases, you have to have confidence in your attorney. If someone can’t afford an attorney then there are some legal aid lawyers that help people who are indigent, who don’t have money for an attorney. If however, you can afford an attorney, the court is going to pretty much demand that you get an attorney. Very rarely do people represent themselves in a criminal court. There’s too much at stake. It’s very rare that that happens, so if you are arrested, whether it’s for a drug case which you shouldn’t consider to be a minor case. Those cases have serious consequences especially for people who are professionals, people who are students, and people who have blue collar jobs.
Having a Drug Conviction Has Adverse Consequences on Employment Opportunities
If your company finds out that you have a conviction for a drug case
- You could be fired.
- If you’re looking for a job, you’re not going to get hired.
So getting a good attorney, who understands the full consequences of your drug case, is really important and you might not realize that, while you’re young and going through the case. But as time goes on, and your questioned repeatedly about an arrest that you had, as a young person. If you were at the wrong place, at the wrong time and you were arrested, you then will realize, oh gosh, I should have hired a good criminal defense attorney who has experience, and who could have helped me through this because
- You need to know about programs that are available.
- You want an attorney, who is creative and can take your history, and go to the prosecutors to try to be creative with the solution to the problem.
Sometimes it’s just even a matter of offering to do some community service. When someone’s arrested, they have to find an attorney who has a good fit with them and helps them, walks them through the case and tries to get a really good resolution for them.
