• We are now running on a new, and hopefully much-improved, server. In addition we are also on new forum software. Any move entails a lot of technical details and I suspect we will encounter a few issues as the new server goes live. Please be patient with us. It will be worth it! :) Please help by posting all issues here.
  • The forum will be down for about an hour this weekend for maintenance. I apologize for the inconvenience.
  • If you are having trouble seeing the forum then you may need to clear your browser's DNS cache. Click here for instructions on how to do that
  • Please review the Forum Rules frequently as we are constantly trying to improve the forum for our members and visitors.

Anybody Know What's Going On With Danbus?

danbus

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2006
Messages
495
Location
Hampton, Virginia, USA
imported post

Thanks for your concern!

I'm doing okay. I'm just frustrated that I have to wait so long just to "prove" my innocence. Furthermore, had I not made bail, I would have missed Thanksgiving and Christmas. I am very thankful for that.

I am not going to go with a public defender. After the judge explained that if I were to be found "guilty", I would have to pay the attorney fees. I don't want to even risk my freedom/wallet because someone else defended me.

This case will be a walk in the park for me after all the case law I have reviewed. The last trial I didn't even get to speak my side before the judge found me not guilty.
 

HankT

State Researcher
Joined
Feb 20, 2007
Messages
6,215
Location
Invisible Mode
imported post

danbus wrote:
Thanks for your concern!

I'm doing okay. I'm just frustrated that I have to wait so long just to "prove" my innocence. Furthermore, had I not made bail, I would have missed Thanksgiving and Christmas. I am very thankful for that.

I am not going to go with a public defender. After the judge explained that if I were to be found "guilty", I would have to pay the attorney fees. I don't want to even risk my freedom/wallet because someone else defended me.

This case will be a walk in the park for me after all the case law I have reviewed. The last trial I didn't even get to speak my side before the judge found me not guilty.
So you are going to defend yourself?
 

danbus

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2006
Messages
495
Location
Hampton, Virginia, USA
imported post

HankT wrote:
danbus wrote:
Thanks for your concern!

I'm doing okay. I'm just frustrated that I have to wait so long just to "prove" my innocence. Furthermore, had I not made bail, I would have missed Thanksgiving and Christmas. I am very thankful for that.

I am not going to go with a public defender. After the judge explained that if I were to be found "guilty", I would have to pay the attorney fees. I don't want to even risk my freedom/wallet because someone else defended me.

This case will be a walk in the park for me after all the case law I have reviewed. The last trial I didn't even get to speak my side before the judge found me not guilty.
So you are going to defend yourself?
Yes, I am. And I don't see why not, I don't rely on the police to protect me, why would I rely on a public defender to defend me?
 

Legba

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2007
Messages
1,881
Location
, ,
imported post

Even if you do know more applicable law than the principals, there are formal procedural things you may not be aware of - filing deadlines, forms of motions, rules of court, etc.- that don't necessarily appear in the statutes and case law. Lawyers will (should) know these things. They are not useless. They are expensive, yes, but what is one's liberty and good name worth? They don't generally fully come back once lost. That and the "personal touch" like having gone to law school with the DA are not things that a defendant can bring to bear on a case.

I do understand your frustration. The waiting is infuriating, and it is a natural tendency to want to tear through the law library and arm yourself with the law in the interests of justice. But being able to quote chapter and verse of the state penal code will not win the day. You may need expert witnesses - do you know any DNA experts? Forensic pathologists? Can you file a timely motion to get the state to pay for an expert witness on your behalf? Your case(s) is/are probably not this complicated, but then Miranda didn't start out as a Federal case either. Call a lawyer and at least go through a consultation. JMO.

-ljp
 

xd.40

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2007
Messages
399
Location
Manassas, Virginia, USA
imported post

Danbus -

You might get a gun friendly lawyer to defend you for free, but that's a long shot. They do cases "pro-bono" every once in a while (it's a tax write off for them). Try calling around or calling the Va. Lawyer referral program (costs for a referral though).
 

danbus

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2006
Messages
495
Location
Hampton, Virginia, USA
imported post

Legba wrote:
Even if you do know more applicable law than the principals, there are formal procedural things you may not be aware of - filing deadlines, forms of motions, rules of court, etc.- that don't necessarily appear in the statutes and case law. Lawyers will (should) know these things. They are not useless. They are expensive, yes, but what is one's liberty and good name worth? They don't generally fully come back once lost. That and the "personal touch" like having gone to law school with the DA are not things that a defendant can bring to bear on a case.

I do understand your frustration. The waiting is infuriating, and it is a natural tendency to want to tear through the law library and arm yourself with the law in the interests of justice. But being able to quote chapter and verse of the state penal code will not win the day. You may need expert witnesses - do you know any DNA experts? Forensic pathologists? Can you file a timely motion to get the state to pay for an expert witness on your behalf? Your case(s) is/are probably not this complicated, but then Miranda didn't start out as a Federal case either. Call a lawyer and at least go through a consultation. JMO.

-ljp

I've been to court enough times to know what I need for my case. In all fairness, I'm not on trial for murder, just a simple misdemeanor.

And with this particular case, I have what I need to prove my innocence. VA has enough precedences that follow my particulars of my case.

Some have said I would need help with my case in Hampton. That was not the case. Even those who have told me that I would end up in jail without a lawyer have yet to say anything positive about the outcome. It truly lets me know what minds are behind the internet.
 

Doug Huffman

Banned
Joined
Jun 9, 2006
Messages
9,180
Location
Washington Island, across Death's Door, Wisconsin,
imported post

danbus wrote:
Yes, I am. And I don't see why not, I don't rely on the police to protect me, why would I rely on a public defender to defend me?

Good man! My best wishes.

I'm sure that there is a attorney-lurker here amongst all the Anony Mouses that will step forward to advise pro bono. And some jurisdictions allow considerable latitude to a per se defense.

Note to the claque-clique; per se means 'by itself' in this context and means little without its predicate-context.

Either we are equal or we are not. Good people ought to be armed where they will, with wits and guns and the truth. LAB/NRA/GOP KMA$$
 

xd.40

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2007
Messages
399
Location
Manassas, Virginia, USA
imported post

Doug Huffman wrote:
I'm sure that there is a attorney-lurker here amongst all the Anony Mouses that will step forward to advise pro bono. And some jurisdictions allow considerable latitude to a per se defense.
I don't know if you were referring to me or not, but I am not a lawyer, just worked for a few :lol:

Please don't lump me in with those people...:what:
 

peter nap

Accomplished Advocate
Joined
Oct 16, 2007
Messages
13,551
Location
Valhalla
imported post

A physician who tries to diagnose his own illness is more likely to make a mistake out of wishful thinking, or out of fear, than another physician would be.
And.
A lawyer who defends himself has a fool for a client.

Argumentum ad Verecundiam
 

Repeater

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2007
Messages
2,498
Location
Richmond, Virginia, USA
imported post

danbus wrote:
I am not going to go with a public defender. After the judge explained that if I were to be found "guilty", I would have to pay the attorney fees. I don't want to even risk my freedom/wallet because someone else defended me.

This case will be a walk in the park for me after all the case law I have reviewed. The last trial I didn't even get to speak my side before the judge found me not guilty.
Dan, I hope you will use the "Buddy System" -- just as you wouldn't dive alone, you should not go into court alone.

At least take someone you know and trust with you to court.
 
Top