Getting Out of a Plea Bargain Due to Withholding of Evidence

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Pennsylvania. A few years back me and my father got into a little bit of trouble. What seemed like an ordinary self defense case, turned into a sh*t storm. From day one the lawyers told us this is BS and we will get all of this stuff dropped. After several continuances the say came on weather to take a deal or go to trial. We were told that the lawyers would not settle for probation and that none of our rights would be infringed. The lawyers said and i quote" I need to give something to the DA" and "if you go to trial i will fu**ing kill you". Now we have never gotten in trouble before and trusted these guys. They never specified if they had contact with the other gentleman involved, any of his family, or any evidence that we did anything wrong. We were lied to and told that with this deal our ltfc would only be a problem with the local police chief(lie), all of our possessions that were taken would be given back(lie).

Now if the other gentleman and his family were never in contact(they were never at any of the court dates) with the D/A and our lawyer knew that is that something that could reopen this case? If our lawyer lied and made us take the deal knowing that our rights would be violated is that something that could reopen the case? Can a case be brought against our lawyers for lying and letting us end up in this mess?

I just need some help because this is starting to really effect things that have gone on in my life. If someone can help me with this, and possibly let me know if the case can be re opened it would be great. Thank you

Eh, I see no evidence here withheld from the defense. You've got at best a case of ineffective counsel and it's a bit late to be bringing that up now. I don't see much help here. PA has no practical expunction of convictions. You can try for a pardon, but it's not a routinely granted thing (i.e., you have to present a good reason other than "it's messing up my life").

so what your saying is that a lawyer can lie and threaten you, then you just have to sit there and be dealt with what you got? And the evidence was withheld from ME! if i would have known they had no contact with the plaintiff then i would have taken my chances in court!

No, they can't but you have to take action in a timely manner. Waiting a couple years is not doing that.

I am curious: what evidence are you claiming was withheld from you? I haven't seen anything in your postings.

a timely matter would imply that you had knowledge of this correct? and the(i say evidence) that the plaintiff may have never been in contact with the DA seems pretty shady to me.

YOU are the one who stood in front of the judge, and PLED to a criminal charge against you. You've already TOLD the court that you did whatever the crime was. That's a serious burden to overcome, and it's the type of thing that needs to be challenged almost immediately after the fact, not YEARS later. Go visit a few local attorneys, have them review transcripts of your proceeding and advise you accordingly. This isn't something you're giong to solve online.

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Quoting rockislife04

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a timely matter would imply that you had knowledge of this correct? and the(i say evidence) that the plaintiff may have never been in contact with the DA seems pretty shady to me.

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that is not evidence. While it would be typical for the prosecutor to interview the complainant/victim, if they didn't, it would not be cause for the case to be dropped. The prosecutor already had the victims report as filed by the police.

and since this did not go to trial, the prosecutor still had time to interview the victim anyway.

If you did not like your lawyers advice you should have hired another one.

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Quoting rockislife04

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so what your saying is that a lawyer can lie and threaten you, then you just have to sit there and be dealt with what you got? And the evidence was withheld from ME! if i would have known they had no contact with the plaintiff then i would have taken my chances in court!

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Quoting Disagreeable

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If you did not like your lawyers advice you should have hired another one.

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you say that like money is very easy to come by when your in a bind. And when your lawyer tells you from day one the case was bs and we will beat this and then pulls a complete 180 on the last day there is not much you can do!

Is there any way for a case to be reopened if there were facts that were withheld? And if we were forced into forfeiting rights that were not established atm, is there anything to do

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rockislife04;749596]you say that like money is very easy to come by when your in a bind. And when your lawyer tells you from day one the case was bs and we will beat this and then pulls a complete 180 on the last day there is not much you can do!

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well, actually there is. You can say; nope, I'm not guilty and stating that in court would be perjury. Not going to do it.

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Is there any way for a case to be reopened if there were facts that were withheld?

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possibly but it would depend on what facts were withheld, by whom, and if they would have made a material difference to your case. Your argument about the DA not speaking to the victim is not such a fact.

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And if we were forced into forfeiting rights that were not established atm, is there anything to do

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I have no idea what you are trying to say here.