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  1. #1

    Exclamation Jail Time for a First Probation Violation

    My question involves criminal law for the state of: Georgia (Cobb)
    Firstly, forgive me please please if I do not post the right things, or post too much, or any of that, I've never done this NOR am I familiar with ANY of this mess, I've yet to even get my first traffic ticket. I'm just posting on here in hopes of finding any kind of helpful advice. I'll try and make it as short of a story as I can.

    My friend, my best friend in the whole world, is sitting in Cobb County right now, for over 3 weeks now. He started Probation Nov 2012, and in Feb 2013 they issued a warrant for him, (under judge Grubbs )claiming non-report (NOT absconding) for January. In JANUARY he had a transfer done from Cobb to Gwinnett WHERE HE LIVES, and was told to wait 5weeks to hear from someone in Lawrenceville. Paper work was dropped I know it. After a couple of weeks not hearing anything, he decided to call L'ville to be safe. They said they have no record of him, etc etc, so he calls Cobb back and they 'ruled' he was a no show for January. Although the P.O. I talked to seemed hesitant that THAT was even done, she was actually very pleasant to me when I called and asked about any info I could get.

    HE hired an attorney that was incredibly rude to us, would never contact us, and won't cooperate in pursueing any angles, or presenting anything to the judge because his view is "shes just a tough one and I'm not going to make her yell at me. When we spoke to the DA, the DA said that he and our attonrey are super good friend. (like golf on the weekends, and hit up Applebees.)

    Then suddenly he hears yesterday from the attorney that THE D.A. IS TRYING TO SUGGEST 6months, NO 2 for 1 (even though he is WORKING in the jail right now, WorkPod.) ANNNND NO CREDIT FOR TIME SERVED. A whole MONTH, no credit. And is threatening if he doesn't take THAT deal, they'll ask for more. This is his 1st violation, technical at that, doesn't use, hasn't done ANY wrong,no new charges and him and I both are about to lose it. It feels like some communist China crap right here. PLEASE someone help me. PLEASE. I've never even had a traffic ticket much less know how all this works. We are both mid twenties and he has no family here in GA. I'm all he's got on the 'outside'. I'm trying to post everywhere I can to even begin to help. He's got a date in front of the judge April 25th. So I'm trying to hurry and regroup. PLEASE I know I might be asking to be made a fool posting on here, but please someone who could help law-wise or an HONEST recommendation, please, I'd be forever grateful. Thank you so much all

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
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    Behind a Desk
    Posts
    98,846

    Default Re: Jail Time for a First Probation Violation

    First, there's no "us" - there's only the client. If you're trying to insinuate yourself into the case and the lawyer is giving you the brush-off, it's reasonable to infer that it's because you have no role to play - and his communication with you would not be privileged.

    Second, most of the time when a friend of the client latches onto something they're sure is really, really important and is going to convince the probation officer and court that the defendant really shouldn't go to jail, they're simply wrong - they don't understand the facts, law, or issues before the court. We can't comment specifically, as you have chosen not to share any relevant facts with us such that we could address whatever it is that you believe the lawyer is ignoring.

    Third, I'm not sure why people imagine that if a defense lawyer gets along with a prosecutor it means they won't be effective when representing their clients, as it is simply not true. It's much more often the lawyer who doesn't get along with the prosecutor that one needs to be concerned about.

    Fourth, if the defendant is looking at seven months of incarceration for missing a single appointment with his probation officer due to confusion about a transfer of probation between counties, there's a lot more in the history of this case than you've shared with us.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Illinois
    Posts
    1,376

    Default Re: Jail Time for a First Probation Violation

    A probation officer is not entitled to tell you much of anything. A transfer is a transfer. Simple as that. Untile you get reporting instrustion from the recieving jurisdiction, you dont't relocate. That is not dropping the ball. That is leaving the jurisdiction prior to permission. PO's will be nice to a genuinely concerned party without being overly informative. It's easy to translate that to feeling that the law enforcement agency has failed the defendant. In reality, it's just that the defendant did not wait until he or she had full ability to pull off what needed to be done. Paperwork was not dropped. Until you get instructions from the new jurisdiction, you can't leave. It can take up to 60 days for a courtesy to go through. He was a no show. He was told to wait for notification. He was not told to not show up for appointments until Lawenceville told him to report. He failed to report to Cobb. He didn't have a transfer done, he had one initiated. Being done means that he waould have received reporting instructions.

    The reason why a PO is hesitant about trransfers being done is because, we don't monitor the prosess of a transfer. It may have been done, but the party that tracks that process is not who you spoke with. So, you will definitely get vague answers from them.

    A technical violation is not any less severe. Most attorneys get along fine. It's not adversarial. Your friends track record aside from this violation has merit. Depending on the offense, he may not be eligible for credit. He did do wrong. He stopped reporting to Cobb Co.

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