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That's partly by design, and partly due to skewed incentives. As noted below, the skewed incentives are that prosecutors need to close and get convictions in o

That's partly by design, and partly due to skewed incentives. As noted below, the skewed incentives are that prosecutors need to close and get convictions in order to progress. They are graded on how well they can get convictions, not if those were "fair." However, this is also partly be design. The theory of our judicial system is that each side will do everything (legal) in their power to argue opposing sides. And then the judge/jury, after hearing both sides, comes to a logical conclusion. The theory goes that if both sides do their job, each avenue of either guilty or innocent are properly explored and then the decision by the arbiter is the closest to the truth. In reality, though, the prosecutors often have way more leverage and power to argue more persuasively and offer deals than the average defense lawyer. Especially if the defense is from a public defender. And high-end celebrity defense lawyers that cost millions also have a way of overpowering and bringing more resources to bear in the defense. Combined, this means that rarely are both sides actually being argued in a balanced manner, thus skewing which way the arbiter will decide.

nateabele 10y ago
That doesn't even begin to scratch the surface. In order to even get to that point, you have to: - Come up with the funds to get out of prison in the first place ($10,000 cash in my case, some % of which you typically never see again; 40% in PA) - Find and still have funds to retain a competent attorney - Navigate the interminable legal process, part of which means spending half a day sitting around in a courtroom, over and over and over again, either burning vacation days, or losing your job, or both (not to mention childcare, etc.) - Reject the coercive and unethical plea bargain they try to scare you into - Waste a day in court at least once a month, just so the judge can satisfy himself that things are moving along - Research and retain your own experts, obtain mountains of records, go over what happened and everything leading up to it about a million times with a million different people (it's basically a part-time job) - Try not to worry obsessively about every aspect of what happened and what you might say - Take more time off to actually go to trial (and jury selection, and other misc. trial prep) - Leave your fate in the hands of people who may not be competent, may not be educated, and by-and-large skew toward favoring law enforcement I have about a million things going for me. I own my own (moderately successful) company, and I have a high profile in a relatively affluent community/industry. That buys me an unreasonably high degree of financial and scheduling flexibility that most people don't have. If not for those things, my family and I would be crushed. If this system is designed to do anything, it's designed to crush the people who get caught in it, with no thought to the consequences for society.
- derefr 10y ago
  Re: navigating the legal process, wasting days in court, researching and retaining experts, obtaining records—these are all things perfectly suited to be done not by you, and not by a full-on attorney, but by a paralegal. But paralegals are not allowed to sell their services directly to the public, so you effectively pay lawyer-rates to acquire a paralegal's services through some lawyer. The everything-other-than-the-defense portion of law could be a lot cheaper if you could hire your own paralegal to do it, and then pass all their work off to a real attorney if-and-when things came to trial.
  - nateabele 10y ago
    If my wife doesn't show up to any court date set by a judge, we're on the hook for $100,000 and she goes back to prison until trial. If you're privy to some magic whereby a paralegal can appear in her place, then by all means, enlighten me. And send me your PayPal address, because that information is worth actual money.
- sluggg 10y ago
  what did you do?
  - MichaelGG 10y ago
    Read the link in his first post where it is explained. His wife had an accident with their new child; CPS assumed it was malicious. DA wants to look hard.
    - nateabele 10y ago
      If by "look hard" you mean 'make us prove our innocence at the cost of huge sums of money and time, under the threat of years in prison', then yup, that's about the size of it.

nateabele 10y ago

That doesn't even begin to scratch the surface. In order to even get to that point, you have to: - Come up with the funds to get out of prison in the first place ($10,000 cash in my case, some % of which you typically never see again; 40% in PA) - Find and still have funds to retain a competent attorney - Navigate the interminable legal process, part of which means spending half a day sitting around in a courtroom, over and over and over again, either burning vacation days, or losing your job, or both (not to mention childcare, etc.) - Reject the coercive and unethical plea bargain they try to scare you into - Waste a day in court at least once a month, just so the judge can satisfy himself that things are moving along - Research and retain your own experts, obtain mountains of records, go over what happened and everything leading up to it about a million times with a million different people (it's basically a part-time job) - Try not to worry obsessively about every aspect of what happened and what you might say - Take more time off to actually go to trial (and jury selection, and other misc. trial prep) - Leave your fate in the hands of people who may not be competent, may not be educated, and by-and-large skew toward favoring law enforcement I have about a million things going for me. I own my own (moderately successful) company, and I have a high profile in a relatively affluent community/industry. That buys me an unreasonably high degree of financial and scheduling flexibility that most people don't have. If not for those things, my family and I would be crushed. If this system is designed to do anything, it's designed to crush the people who get caught in it, with no thought to the consequences for society.

derefr 10y ago
Re: navigating the legal process, wasting days in court, researching and retaining experts, obtaining records—these are all things perfectly suited to be done not by you, and not by a full-on attorney, but by a paralegal. But paralegals are not allowed to sell their services directly to the public, so you effectively pay lawyer-rates to acquire a paralegal's services through some lawyer. The everything-other-than-the-defense portion of law could be a lot cheaper if you could hire your own paralegal to do it, and then pass all their work off to a real attorney if-and-when things came to trial.
- nateabele 10y ago
  If my wife doesn't show up to any court date set by a judge, we're on the hook for $100,000 and she goes back to prison until trial. If you're privy to some magic whereby a paralegal can appear in her place, then by all means, enlighten me. And send me your PayPal address, because that information is worth actual money.
sluggg 10y ago
what did you do?
- MichaelGG 10y ago
  Read the link in his first post where it is explained. His wife had an accident with their new child; CPS assumed it was malicious. DA wants to look hard.
  - nateabele 10y ago
    If by "look hard" you mean 'make us prove our innocence at the cost of huge sums of money and time, under the threat of years in prison', then yup, that's about the size of it.