Ridgewood, NJ asked in Criminal Law for New Jersey

Q: Could my lawyer have done more/did he screw me over?

I was recently convicted of a 3rd degree felony, and my life has been turned upside down. There are a lot of mitigating circumstances in my case, and my lawyer has not always been upfront with me about a lot of things, hence my suspicion and doubt about the outcome. I plead guilty to the charge, and was sentenced to 1 year of probation, but I am wondering if perhaps my lawyer could have negotiated a lesser charge with the prosecutor, so that I may eventually be able to expunge this, or get PTI (non-expungeable offense) and I was given 45 days to possibly rescind my guilty plea. I've reached out to my lawyer 4 times in the past 3 weeks and have heard nothing, and he has not called me back. I'm really worried and pissed that his laziness/lack of effort will ruin my life, and I'd like some options concerning how to deal with him, and furthermore, if I have any legal options to get this offense off my record.

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2 Lawyer Answers
H. Scott Aalsberg
H. Scott Aalsberg
Answered
  • Criminal Law Lawyer
  • East Brunswick, NJ
  • Licensed in New Jersey

A: Unfortunately without reading the discovery and knowing your side of the story no lawyer could tell you what type of job your lawyer did. But you should expect to pay a lawyer for his/her time and advice to do this.

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Answered
  • Criminal Law Lawyer
  • Milltown, NJ
  • Licensed in New Jersey

A: Third degree crime carries 3-5 years of prison. I don't know the facts of your case so I am speaking in broad general terms. Mitigating factors are not a defense. Your lawyer more likely than not did what he was supposed to do which is get your the best possible result to avoid a trial as in most cases the State has enough evidence to convict. If convicted after a trial there's no telling what the Court will do to you. You got one year probation and it's probably due to your mitigating circumstances. PTI is completely at the prosecutor's discretion and to overturn them is next to impossible. You got one year probation for a third degree? That's pretty good result unless you have fantastic defenses to the crime but if you did then the case should get dismissed by the prosecutor's office or downgraded to municipal court and move to trial. The 45 days is for an appeal and has nothing to do with changing your mind. In fact if you changed your mind and wanted to take the plea back the Judge will say no way you're crazy you got one year probation for a third degree you did better than 99% of ppl out there. Your lawyer isn't returning your calls because he's tired of telling you this. Good luck on probation and after 6 months file motion to terminate it early so you can get back to your life and in five years apply for an expungement.

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