Legal Question in Criminal Law in Washington

A unlawful charge question

I have problem regarding a drug charge that is be placed upon me which shouldnt be. In 2006 i was confronted by police in Bellingham,WA on Sept 26th and was found with a substantial amount of marijauna. The police then decided to detain me by handcuffing me and sitting me on the sidewalk an then proceeded to question me where i got the marijauna? I cooperated and told them where which pleased them and they presented me with a deal, which was to give them my phone number ( which to this day is still the same) and that they woould be keeping in contact with me over the next few days and that i was free to go! I complied with thier every demand was never cited/ticketed for this offense. Over the course of the next 5-7 days i never heard from any of the officers or thier counterparts so seeing how i was in the process of moving cause my roomate was moving out and i couldnt afford rent by myself one of my other friends offered me to move to Tacoma,WA with him or be homless so i took up his offer. Now almost 2 years later i just got a letter in the mail saying im being charged with this and my question too you is do i have a good chance of fighting this with a public defender or should i get a lawyer of my own?


Asked on 9/09/08, 4:57 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
James J. White, attorney Law Offices of Smith & White, PLLC

Re: A unlawful charge question

There are many pluses to a public defender. They are usually very idealistic and hard working. Also, usually assigned to the same court, they are familiar with the peculiarities of the individual prosecutors and judges. Sadly, they are incredibly overworked. When I was a public defender it was standard to have an average of 32.5 cases a month. That's over one and a half a day if you subtract weekends and holidays from the month.

If you truly want to fight, and not settle, the case then I recommend you hire an attorney.

At your service,

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Answered on 9/10/08, 6:36 pm


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