Legal Question in Legal Malpractice in Wisconsin

Hey there...I live in la crosse county. I recently got a public defender out of Dodgeville wi. I'm being charged with a bogus charge. Disorderly conduct bc my soon to be ex husband and his fianc� claimed I threw rocks at their vehicle. I did none of the sort. The reason they are claiming this is bc they owe me $ that I borrowed them. There was no proof or evidence so I got charged with a dc. When I first talked to my attorney he said he asked the da to dismiss the charges if I paid restitution. The district attorney agreed only if I paid up front. The reason my attorney told me he was asking for this is bc the pictures the officers took showed nothing, so there for whatever claim of restitution we would appeal or something of the sort and take it trial. He explained to me the all of trial process within 20 minor longer. He even said he would want me to take it to trial for the reason I had a good case bc this claim I threw rocks was bogus. Also it took 4 weeks for my attorney to return my phone calls ans messages. I believe this attorney has never represented anyone as a public defender before. So today when I talked to my attorney to see what the da came up for restitution, my attorney began to tell me I need to plead to a non criminal offense and pay a fine. I began to explain that I cannot afford a fine especially for something I'm not guilty of. He said then you need to take it trial...I said ok...he said then you would get found guilty of a criminal manner. I feel that my attorney for more insight on how to get paid as a public defender by getting me to agree to a fine. I feel like everytime I've been charged with something even though I'm not guilty I still had to plead to something of the sort to pay a fine like a disorderly conduct...I feel this is the states only way to get paid...is by always charging someone with something...IT IS WRONG...PLEASE HELP


Asked on 1/11/17, 7:40 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
JAY Nixon nixon law offices

My guess here is that the DA's main concern here is to prevent further violence in an explosive domestic situation, which you say is in the process of being dissolved. Perhaps it will eventually become a less interesting prosecution once that has occurred and the two of you are forever separated. You can never be forced to take any plea agreement and always have the right to a jury trial, so you should use that right if you don't want to take any offer. You are very lucky to have a public defender available to do the trial for you, since a trial would be very expensive if you were paying for it privately. Regrettably, the rate paid for attorneys appointed by the Public Defender in WI is extremely low, so these lawyers need to limit the amount of money losing time that they spend with you, and might be too busy to return every phone call immediately. They might, however, be able to return emails more easily, so perhaps you should try that option, but if so you should try to frame your questions more clearly than this one, since it is hard to tell exactly what you are asking here.

Answering this question does not make me your attorney, but you can post comments here for clarifications, etc. You can also see past answers to similar questions on AVVO at https://www.avvo.com/attorneys/53566-wi-jay-nixon-1529181/answers.html . Also see 15 years of past answers at http://www.lawguru.com/answers/atty_profile/view_attorney_profile/jknixon and https://www.facebook.com/NixonLawOffices . Answers may contain attorney advertising materials and both questions and answers may be may also be used in attorney advertising.

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Answered on 1/13/17, 7:33 am


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