“What are my odds of winning”?
That is the most-often asked question that I hear after initial consultations (mine last about an hour and a half). My response goes something like this:
“If you shop around for an attorney to handle your operating under the influence (OUI) case (or any other criminal case), you should immediately cross off your list any attorney who answers that question. That’s because those attorneys have not thoroughly investigated your case. There’s a mountain of material to analyze and investigate beyond this initial discussion. Any lawyer who answers that question, at this time, is not likely to climb that mountain”.
The fact is that the purpose of the initial consultation is for the lawyer to give the client information. You deserve and should expect to receive a substantive and procedural road map from the attorney to help you prepare yourself, your family and your attorney to face and deal with the battle that lies ahead.
During initial consultations I often discover “red flags”, obvious potential defenses and problems with the State’s case. Sometimes, more often, no “red flags” come to light that early in the process. But, my job doesn’t end at that point nor does it end when the client pays the fee. That’s when my job starts in earnest.
In OUI cases, for example, you need a lawyer who understands the intricacies of the DEEP program and can guide you though that agency as efficiently as possible. Same goes for the DMV. The lawyer must obtain, review and, most importantly, understand the material that is available from the DA, Maine Criminal Justice Academy and the State Laboratory. It takes effort to get the police to preserve and the DA to produce dash cam DVDs and DVDs from the Intoxilyzer room.
Moreover, if the lawyer obtains those materials, he or she must possess the experience and knowledge to properly analyze and interpret that information as it pertains to your specific case. I am a certified Intoxilyzer operator and have testified as an expert on intoxilyzers in Federal Court. The ability to do so depends upon the lawyers base of facts obtained from you and his or her ability to piece all of that information together and develop a viable defense.
Perhaps the single most important part of an OUI investigation is proper conduct of the administrative suspension hearing. Do not hire a lawyer for an OUI case who down plays the importance of that proceeding. The most outright dismissals of criminal OUI charges that I have obtained direct results of what officers say at DMV hearings (no DA present but all officer testimony is given under oath and I get transcripts to help at trial and/or negotiations pre-trial).
We would all like a quick answer. Sometimes the answer is wrong, wrong because its overly positive and things don’t pan out. Sometimes its bad news when you really had a great defense because the lawyer didn’t keep digging or didn’t realize the significance of what was given to him.
Disclaimer: This article is intended to provide general, not specific, information about Maine law. The publication of this article does not constitute an attorney-client relationship between the author(s) and the reader(s).
