Q: Can my son hire another attorney just for his plea bargain in Phoenix Arizona
We hired a attorney for our son in Arizona to help fight in a complex criminal case. Our son was 19 and just graduated high school, worked since 15, played sports since 2nd grade, never been in any kind of trouble with school or the law in our town. The attorney we hired has not been good for him and we tried to ask for another attorney in same law firm since we already paid $25,000 to them but gave us the run around. It's a complex case and it feels like the other codefendants are getting off pretty easy but the evidence show and victims has said he looked nervous and afraid. With the plea offer, our son will do 5 years and probation after. Our attorney just stay quiet in court so what I need to know is, van we hire a attorney to represent our son on his plead bargain? Or is it too late. I only ask because his attorney told him he can fire him and hire another attorney. He just never seem to want to fight 100% for our son.
A:
This is a common issue that happens and I hate to say it but if your son already accepted the plea deal then there is nothing that can be done. A lawyer would have to basically prove that something legally was significantly wrong with the plea to undo accepting the plea.
If, however, you want to hire a new lawyer before your son accepts the plea offer then you are always free to do that. The issue there is you will likely not get any money back from your first law firm and you will have to pay a new law firm on top of what you already paid. Even then, there is no guarantee that the second law firm can get your son a better deal. This is kind of like in a baseball game bringing in a new pitcher in the 9th inning when the game is pretty much over and you are losing 5 - 0. They might be the best pitcher/law firm in the world but they are pretty much out of time to make any real change in the case since it is already at the end.
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