Q: How long does it take to get a dismissal for a misdemeanor criminal case? (Lowest possible criminal crime)
My friend was arrested in November 2020 is put on bail and has a court appointed attorney. The last thing he heard from the attorney is that it looked like it may be dropped because the plaintiff isn't responding to them. This was a month ago and the attorney also said he had 5 other cases in front of his that he's working on. How long does a dismissal take to get? Does he have to wait until the other 5 cases are handled 1st? Also how long does it take to get it removed from his record? We just want to make sure this attorney isn't dragging this on longer than it should be
A: Wow, complaining about a free attorney? Beggars can't be choosers. It isn't the defense attorney's decision when or if the prosecutor dismisses the case. Sure, the defense attorney can attempt to INFLUENCE the prosecutor but ultimately if you have a stubborn prosecutor sometimes you just have to set it for trial and dare them to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. The problem right now is that COVID created a huge backlog on the trial docket so that isn't as much leverage as it used to be.
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