Being an ethical person is extremely important to me.  We all make mistakes.  I make mistakes.  However, what’s more important is that we accept consequences, we are apologetic.  We are appreciative for any breaks we get along the way.  Yes, we all know it’s important but reality is many of us fail.  How do we learn to be ethical?  I learned much from a tv show called, Little House on The Prairie”. The fictional character Charles Ingles is my hero.  Sure, it’s a fictional character but I believe in what that character represents.  After, I write that I think to myself  and I became a criminal defense attorney. What did you think all your clients were going to be solid  and ethical ?  Well, I guess not.  Well here is a story about one former client, no name of course.  No date of course.  Maybe it’s real maybe it’s fake.  You decide.

Crazy client does not want to go to court.  He’s too busy. Traveling to Florida is inconvenient.  I can do it next vacation, he says. I really  have a lot going in my life. I live in another jurisdiction.  Just tell the judge I can’t do it.  It’s odd when clients don’t care about their case or don’t realize the seriousness of the matter.  Sometimes words don’t do it justice. 

Laughing off some clients minimizing the hard work.  Lots of great clients but some that have a way of draining your energy. No money. Never did anything wrong. The police did me wrong. I want to sue.  Of course you won Foley. They violated my rights.  Some clients and their family call 20x a week and ask silly questions.  When case is over they don’t have 10 minutes to write a review online.  No respect.  Never mad never upset but your criminal defense attorney is disappointed with the lack of respect.   Give some respect.  Give me a tip and write the review

The right to remain silent also known as your fifth amendment right is something you should always exercise.  it should say shut up don’t talk wait for lawyer. Over the years, I have dealt with many cases criminal cases that involve A defendant talking to police when he should not.  I often say to clients: if you’re walking down the street by yourself and you just happen to have some bullets in your pocket I don’t know 9 mm, and you see a group of angry looking men coming toward you. One guys got a bat, another guy has a pipe, another guy has a gun and they generally look pissed off. You cross the street to avoid them but they also cross the street and they approach you. The first thing that the big guy with the gun says is you got some 9 mm bullets? and you say stupidly,”sure here they are”  and you hand them to the guy. He takes your 9 mm bullets, puts them into his firearm and shoots you. You live for a while as you acknowledge them emptying your wallet, your keys, your wedding ring, your watch but ultimately you’re fleeting out of existence.

When a police officer asks you questions and you give answers to those questions, you are giving him bullets to shoot you. You are giving law enforcement evidence that will definitely be used against you and will be detrimental to your freedom.  As mentioned previously, the authors of the bill of rights should’ve just said “shut up be quiet and wait for your lawyer.” I am  Attorney Roger P. Foley with legal mess.

Innocent until proven guilty except some prosecutors missed that class.  They don’t look at anything until the last minute.  They read a police report and treat it like it’s scripture.  They have a budget that could allow them to buy and feed countries so they are in control.  The system says you are guilty and prosecutors need to be perceived as tough on crime so they prosecute except sometimes they prosecute innocent people.  Police are always to be believed unless you have them on video or there are two independent witness that come forward.  Is it Blind ignorance or laziness? you make that determination.  Defense attorneys must fight the battle to prove their client is innocent.  Nobody feels bad for the alleged criminal until it’s their family.  Legal mess?  Well that’s what I clean up.

Assault- generally a verbal threat by word or action to cause fear in another.  Discuss a few cases  of assault with fact patterns, one of them having an angry defendant.  Complexity turned simple.