Author Stan Norwalk
The justice system is not judicious or fair. It’s rigged from the onset. There is very little justice in the American justice system. If you get caught up in the system you are defending yourself on middle class income and assets vs. the millions of tax paying dollars, technology, extensive staff of District and U.S. attorneys, expert testimony witnesses against you and the high tech infrastructure of local, state and federal prosecutorial offices. You are definitely on your opponents home turf and out of your league.
U.S. Attorneys and District Attorneys are working against you with your tax payer dollars which can add up to millions to prosecute you. You are working to defend yourself and are on your own. The rich can afford it but the middle class get screwed. The poor get legal aid.
It is as if you are going into the boxing ring against Mohammed Ali. Not a prayer in the world that you will prevail unless they have a shabby weak case. They did it to President Trump who is financially capable of defending himself but you will fold like a bad hand in a poker game.
That is why prosecutors have a high conviction rate of over 90% or better. You will take a plea whether you are guilty or not to avoid serious consequences like bankruptcy from defending yourself or a possibility of a long jail term if you don’t cooperate. Either way you have zero leverage. The deck is stacked. Lady Justice is peeking through her blind fold.
Unless you have a rich uncle, have a strong constitution, great temperament, strong emotions the odds of winning even if you are innocent are extremely difficult but not impossible. That is why many innocent people plead guilty to save their life savings, and minimize jail time if any.
The strategy of the prosecutors is to overcharge you with as many felonies and misdemeanors as possible even though they may not be applicable directly to your case. Many of these charges are used to intimidate you even if these charges are bogus. They leverage their felony and misdemeanor charges in large amounts to break you down.
They will throw everything at the wall hoping something will stick and you will succumb to the pressure. When you see the number of charges, it’s intimidating. Then add on the crazy legal fees, expert witness fees, daily transcript fees, phone call charges to your lawyer, misc expenses, loss of time at work and you will go straight to the poor house and the “shrink”.
The Federal conviction rate is over 95 %, the State and City prosecutors have over a 90% conviction rate. That tells you the game is rigged. It is like racing a Volkswagen Beetle against a Maserati. You know up front you are a loser even if you are innocent.
The lawyers’ fees alone should make you change your underwear. Lawyer’s fees should be regulated based on your income, work status and the amount of time your lawyer spends on your case. I think lawyers are charging too much making it almost impossible to fight the charges you are facing.
If you are poor you are assigned free counsel who won’t be able to spend a reasonable amount of time on your case because he has to support himself and what they pay him to defend you is not what his service is worth. So even the poor get screwed.
Most people plead guilty because they fear the unknown and don’t want to bankrupt themselves, put themselves and family through stress and financial ruin.
Now that doesn’t mean everyone is innocent. But there are too many innocent people that have to accept a guilty plea to save themselves from poverty, stress, losing their job, perhaps their wife and kids who live under the stress.
It means that you have to agree with the prosecutor that you accept responsibility for the crime you are plea bargaining to. Officially guilty or not you are on the record as being guilty. But what you have accomplished is saving your wealth and assets and putting yourself and family through the trauma of going through the process with much uncertainty of the outcome.
The lawyer’s bill alone can make you shutter and traumatize you.
The prosecutors know this and take advantage of your circumstance and vulnerability. The prosecutor’s future depends on how many kills they get. You are just a number. Most don’t care about your innocence, they care about winning, their reputation, the opportunities for promotion, and the opportunity to be asked by a high end law firm to join them and make 6-7 figures.
There is very little justice especially for the middle class. You are fighting a tribunal. That being the prosecutor, the judge and yes even your attorney who may very well be negotiating in the judge’s chambers behind closed doors without you being there with the prosecutor to trade one client’s pleas deal for another.
The lady of justice who holds the scales of justice and is blindfolded is not really blindfolded; she is peaking out and tipping the scale toward the government. That’s the way the system works. If they can go after billionaires like Donald Trump they can bury you with legal expenses that can make anyone insane enough and anguished enough to plead guilty.
Pretty scary when you find out that to defend yourself in court it could cost tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars. The State or Federal government has at their disposal millions of tax payer dollars, dozens of prosecutors and staff to go after you with all kinds of charges, hearings, motions and it could go on for a long time. The longer it goes on the poorer you get and the more stressed you get.
The government has you by the short hairs and you have only your lawyer who is draining your bank account. Never, never talk to anyone including the police, prosecutors or anyone without a lawyer present. The only thing you have to say is your name, date of birth and social security number . Beyond that keep your mouth shut because they the opposition will use anything you say against you.
They may threaten you, lie to you which they are allowed to, say kind things to you. Its all a ploy to get you to do what they want you to do. Talk through a lawyer. That’s it, period,end of sentence. And find a rich uncle.
The criminal justice system needs a total overhaul. There should be uniform sentencing and the judge should have sentencing leeway especially with those who are recidivist.
Lawyer’s fees should be regulated based on ones’ crimes and income. Everyone charged with a crime should be able to afford representation and not be forced to plea bargain to avoid going bankrupt.
The scales of justice from the onset are tipped against you not to mention the crazy legal fees that lawyers charge.Who in their right mind wouldn’t plead guilty?