What to do? No charges filed in 5 months

[BlueEyez1981]

What is the name of your state? Washington

My boyfriend was arrested for a DUI on April 30th 2005. This was his 3rd DUI. He got his first two back in 2000 when he was young and stupid. Since then he has retained a lawyer, who he paid a flat fee, and has a legal retainer but has barely been able to get ahold of the laywer since then. When my boyfriend was arrested he did all the tests that they asked him to and then they released him to walk home. He had a BAC of .081 and .084 when he did the BAc tests at the station. His rights were never read to him either.

Since then he has heard nothing about the charges of DUI. He did go through the licensing hearing and his license was suspended. His lawyer did handled that but that is all we are aware that he has handled. He did talk to his lawyer almost a month and half ago who said he should recieve a court date in a couple of weeks for his DUI but we have heard nothing. My boyfriend has not had an arranement or anything else related to this case. His public defender for a driving on suspended said that he should be able to get his license back since it has been more than 90 days but we don't know if that is true.

It has been over 5 months since he was arrested for his DUI shouldn't we have heard something relatively quickly for his DUI? Could anyone provide any information that could help us? We are confused and don't want to take the wrong steps that could end him up actually having to go to court for a DUI that accured 5 months ago and nothing has happened since. We would also like to know if anyone has any advise on how to handle getting his license back.

He worked so hard to get his life back on track after the first 2, which were combined and charged as one, and now he has this to deal with again. My other question is what action should we take against the dead beat lawyer that took my boyfriends money and hasn't done anything.

 

[Son of Slam]

This was his 3rd DUI. He got his first two back in 2000 when he was young and stupid.... We are confused and don't want to take the wrong steps that could end him up actually having to go to court for a DUI that accured 5 months ago ....

I guess no one has to tell you that life is like a box of chocolates, do they?



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[Kane]

Your bf's lawyer can't make the state file charges. In the first place, the DA's office doesn't have to do what your bf's lawyer tells them to do. In the second, it would be a violation of professional ethics for him to do so, since it's not in your bf's interests for the state to prosecute him.

In a criminal case, the best thing that can happen to a defendant is nothing. If nothing happens to your f, that's the best thing that can happen to him.

The best way for your bf to find out if he can get his license back is to ask DPS (or whatever it's called in your state) if he can get his license back.

 

[Some Random Guy]

My other question is what action should we take against the dead beat lawyer that took my boyfriends money and hasn't done anything.

You paid the lawyer a flat fee to handle the DUI. The lawyer has handled the only court appearance cso far - the licensing hearing. Since no other charges have been filed, why should the lawyer do anything? Any effort he takes will be useless until charges are filed, and will earn him no revenue.

 

[BlueEyez1981]

Its not that we want the state to file charges were just curious if there is a way to find out if they plan to file charges since we have heard nothing and it is actually going on 6 months.

Our problem with his lawyer is that he can't get ahold of him and he doesn't call my boyfriend back. His lawyer was supposed to show up for his hearing on a driving on a suspended and didn't show up. He did this 3 times never showed up for something he said he would be there for. My boyfriend has actually talked to his public defender more since his lawyer didn't show up.

Yes the lawyer did handle the License hearing but can he just not show up for court when he says he will be there? It just doesn't seem ethical that he would not show up and not call to say he had something else that was more of an emergency come up.

 

[Kane]

Its not that we want the state to file charges were just curious if there is a way to find out if they plan to file charges since we have heard nothing and it is actually going on 6 months.

You could ask them. Their most likely response would be, "we haven't decided yet." Unless there's some sort of fatal flaw in the case, they almost certainly will file charges at some point. --Unless somebody's dropped the ball, in which case it's probably not in his interest to draw attention to it.

Our problem with his lawyer is that he can't get ahold of him and he doesn't call my boyfriend back.

The lawyer should call him back. Unfortunately, there's nothing anyone here can do about it if he doesn't.

His lawyer was supposed to show up for his hearing on a driving on a suspended and didn't show up. He did this 3 times never showed up for something he said he would be there for. My boyfriend has actually talked to his public defender more since his lawyer didn't show up.

Why does your bf have a PD and a private lawyer?

Yes the lawyer did handle the License hearing but can he just not show up for court when he says he will be there? It just doesn't seem ethical that he would not show up and not call to say he had something else that was more of an emergency come up.

Yes. If he's been paid to handle a matter, he should show up and handle it. All lawyers have scheduling conflicts sometimes, but he should at least let his client know what happened and why he wasn't there.

Not to be rude, Blue Eyes, but you said in your first post your bf could "barely" get a hold of the lawyer, and in the second you made it sound like he couldn't get a hold of him at all. You also said he had a PD for the license suspension the first time around, and then said the paid lawyer was supposed to handle it in your second post.

I can't help but think at least part of the problem is that you've decided you want to do something else with the money your bf paid the lawyer.

In any case, if your bf decides he doesn't want this lawyer anymore, he can ask the lawyer for at least part of the money back. The lawyer may agree to that, depending on how much work he's already done. (It also depends on the lawyer, and what contract - if any - your bf signed.) As a last resort, your bf - not you - can file a grievance against the lawyer. He shouldn't do that, though, unless or until he has another lawyer lined up to handle the case. Once a grievance has been filed, this lawyer isn't going to work on your bf's case anymore.

 

[BlueEyez1981]

Why does your bf have a PD and a private lawyer?

He has both at this point. He hired a private lawyer to handle the DUI. His Private Lawyer said he would handle the Driving on suspended also. He had 3 court appearnces and the private lawyer did not show up for any of them. He said he would be at all 3 but that on 1 of them he might be late so when he didn't show up we figured it was a scheduling thing. But we never heard from him about why he didn't show up on the other 2. Since his lawyer didn't show up the court appointed him a public defender for his driving on suspended.

I can't help but think at least part of the problem is that you've decided you want to do something else with the money your bf paid the lawyer.

I know it is hard to read someones true intentions over the internet when you don't know the person but I don't want to do anything with the money my bf paid his lawyer. (you can believe this if you want but I have no right to the money that my boyfriend paid his lawyer I just feel he is wasting his money if he is not getting any services for the money.) I have a great job and make more then my bf. My bf doesn't use computers and so he can't do the research himself otherwise he would do these things himself. My bf took out a personal loan to be able to get a retainer with his lawyer and he is paying on this loan that he can barely aford for a lawyer who wont return a phone call unless he is in trouble and doesn't show up for court dates. The last time my bf talked to his lawyer was when he was arrested for the driving on suspended and that was almost 2 months ago. The lawyer said he would be at the first court appearence and was a no show (He actually did get to talk to the lawyer this time). My bf called and left a message multiple times with the next court date. No answer, no call back. Then he did this again with the 3rd date and thats when he ended up with the public defender.

In any case, if your bf decides he doesn't want this lawyer anymore, he can ask the lawyer for at least part of the money back. The lawyer may agree to that, depending on how much work he's already done. (It also depends on the lawyer, and what contract - if any - your bf signed.) As a last resort, your bf - not you - can file a grievance against the lawyer. He shouldn't do that, though, unless or until he has another lawyer lined up to handle the case. Once a grievance has been filed, this lawyer isn't going to work on your bf's case anymore.

I understand that it is not my place to file the grievance and I have no legal right to since it does not involve me and my name is no where on the retainer. I do appriciate the advice though.

This is the first legal matter I have ever been involved in even if it is from the outside, and its a learning process. My bf would rather do nothing about any of it and just hope nothing happens but I prefer to take a more on hands approach and least educate my self as much as possible on our options and the laws. I have been doing a lot of research on the web on the laws in my state trying to figure out where to go next or to just stand by and hope the statute of limitations passes by.