I just read the "shot, Arrested and weapon confiscated!" thread.  One thing that was never answered was "How do you get a lawyer?"

I'm a single guy. I have never had any need for a lawyer. I live several states away from my family.  

If I was dragged into a police station and the police attempted to coerce me like they did "oneshot1kill", what do I do?  I can't demand *my* lawyer because I don't have one.  

If I am given a local phone call, who do I call?  I don't really know anyone locally who I would trust to get me out of jail.  For that matter, who do you call if you are detained while traveling?

Most any place in the US can provide you with a Public Defender free of charge, if you are unable to provide your own lawyer.

As it says in the Miranda spiel, you have a right to legal counsel and have the right to have an attorney present during all questioning by the police or DA's representative.  But that doesn't necessarily mean you can get COMPETENT legal counsel for free.  There are good PDs and not so good PDs.

So basically you say "I'm not saying anything until I have a lawyer" and they bring in Lionel Hutz...

Basically yes, but in places that don't have PDs readily available you will wait in jail until they scrounge one up for you.  A friend of mine had that happen in a small town in Utah after the cop figured out he was Jewish and started hassling him about everything under the sun.  [rolleyes]

He was in the can for a whole weekend, during which a bored Barney Fife type guy asked to see his tail.  "My TAIL?" asked my friend.  "Yes," replied Barney, "Our minister told us all Jews have tails."

My friend ended up representing himself in front of a senile old judge who fined him $153, which happened to be exactly the amount of cash in his wallet.

That was one bad road trip.  My friend doesn't go through Utah any more.

[devil]

... in Arizona once you've aquired a CCW permit most reputable training establishments provide a "recommended" list of attorneys specializing in these matters.
I'll see if I can find my list (AZ only)

[url]http://www.prepaidlegal.com/[/url]

You still have the right to demand one even if you don't have one on retainer.  The problem is that you sit in jail while waiting on the lawyer to show-up.


I just thought this was funny.  When I had my CCW class, the instructor, a state police officer with almost 30 years of experience, mentioned lawyers as part of the syllabus.  His advice on how to choose one (from a hand-out), "They all suck.  Don't put yourself in a position to need one.  I'm serious.  We're [the law] bigger than you and him [the lawyer] put together, and you can't win.  Keeping your mouth shut will help you more than any lawyer can.  If you shoot someone in self-defense, you let the us [the police] figure-out what happened.  When we see a guy, that's a felon, on the ground with a knife that looked like it fell out of his hand, we'll figure it out.  You start telling us what happened, and we [b]will[/b] (his emphasis) find something wrong with what you did and you will go to jail.  I yet haven't(sic) seen a criminal lawyer in court, and I've seen most of them around here, that I would trust with my freedom.  If you do have to hire a lawyer, give him the same advice, keep his mouth shut.  Some people get upset when lawyers don't seem to say much, because they feel like they're paying them to say something.  It's the other way around.  You're paying them to say as little as possible.  Whatever he says don't agree or disagree with him in front of us.  You can't be held liable for what he says, but if you agree with him, then you can.  If he talks too much, tell him to keep his mouth shut.  If he keeps running his mouth, fire him.  We [the police] can't continue our questioning until you replace him.  If I ever handle a case involving you and you run your mouth, I will write to Chief Stewart himself demanding that your CWP be revoked."

Also, question #51 (the state test is really 50 questions) on his test was:

51.  When a police officer asks you a question, the most dangerous thing to do is:
A) pull a gun on him
B) reach for his gun
C) flee
C) call his mother a whore
E) run your mouth

His answer was, obviously E.  I think he was trying to make a point.

I thought that was amusing, because the poster said the trainer might suggest a lawyer.  Mine suggested none of the above.z