So yes, I learned from experience. My ex wanted to file assault charges on me after I escorted her off the place I was living after we divorced. She tripped, I caught her and helped her up and she went away smiling. Totally made up shit.
She had on high heels and tripped when stepping off the curb.
Anyway, my public defender demanded I plead guilty and claimed I was obviously guilty. I tried to explain to him what actually happened and he just wouldn't listen. Then he said, "You'll just have to tell the judge we're in conflict.". I made him explain what that actually means. It means, you've just fired the entire Public Defender's office. It also means that the DA will have to pay for you to have a private attorney THEY DON'T CONTROL. Summary, the case basically went nowhere after that and my private attorney did a great job. It could have been better of course but at the time I was very ignorant of the law and facts, when to shut up and when to speak up and what to say but fair enough.
Years later dealing with drug addicts who constantly made stuff up, trespassed on my Grandparents property, came and harassed them, stole stuff, etc. the prosecutors and police were all happy to charge me with crimes while ignoring what I was dealing with on a daily basis protecting my grandparents. Turns out one of the cops made a tacit admission they were helping these druggies dispose of quite a bit of weed. They were in on it.
I knew I had not broken any laws and even though I could have timed my responses better and caught them hard with their pants down I did well enough to get all charges over a year long period tossed out of court.
The thing is, the Public Defenders were quite eager to throw me under the bus and one even went so far as to tell me to "Get the fuck out of my office" without even hearing my side of events. I didn't know it then but I could have had him disbarred. Our courts are very corrupt, police often corrupt and work harder protecting the rights of offenders and looking to string up innocent hard working people from the nearest light pole. When DA finally dropped one of their more serious charges on lack of evidence the judge actually tried to make me pay for court costs. I said hell no and was threatened with charges. I said to the county clerk, "Bring it. I welcome a chance to confront that judge in court" and suddenly, the bill vanished.
This is the main problem with our whole law enforcement and judicial system today. We are mostly ignorant and the public is cowed and intimidated by the system.
One thing I've seen on videos that seems to stump many people when they try to exercise their constitutional rights is when a cop says some snarky comment like, "Oh, are you a lawyer?". So wait, you have to be a lawyer to ask for your constitutional rights to be respected? And is the cop a lawyer? No.
Knowing the law is very important and and then having the guts to defend your rights comes right on the heels of knowledge.
Sounds like you got your legal education the hard way.😎
For what little I have, yes. Thing is, after dealing with corrupt police, prosecutors and a corrupt tyrant judge with corrupt Public Defenders, I realized they are not there for us, they are there to perpetuate a system that serves them with a lucrative lifestyle.
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