Need Help Finding a Lawyer for Fresno County Court Date Tomorrow

September 21, 2009 2:15 PM

How do I find an attorney to represent me at a court appearance tomorrow morning for the Superior Court in Coalinga, Fresno County?

Over the summer I was given a ticket for an infraction for urinating on a public highway. I used the Fresno County Attorney referral service and spoke with an attorney last week who said that he could either represent me or find someone who could. I called back today and spoke to someone in the office who said he could not help me and did not know anyone who could.

My appearance is supposed to be at 8:30am tomorrow. I live in Atlanta now. I called the court and they said they cannot postpone my hearing date. If I do not show up, apparently they will issue a bench warrant for me.

Does anyone have any advice on how to find an attorney who could show up in court for me? I don't know what exactly will happen at the hearing, but I am happy to plead guilty and accept any fine, community service, or other punishment. I just need someone to deliver that message.

I tried a google search for lawyers in Coalinga and called some numbers but it was an estate lawyer and then someone in business law, so I need a way to refine the search or only find people who can potentially go to a court appearance for me tomorrow. I also called back the Attorney Referral service and they gave me the number of one attorney that they thought might be able to help, so I left him a number and I am waiting to hear back.

Thank you for all of the help.

[You are not my lawyer and this is not legal advice.]

posted by davidstandaford to law & government (17 comments total)

Agreed, I am not your lawyer and this is not legal advice. No one needs to have a lawyer to show up in court. People are perfectly entitled to go in pro se, especially for minor things like infractions. (You can't even get a public defender unless you're looking at a misdemeanor.) If the only reason you want a lawyer is to show up and say what you'd say anyway, I'm not sure it's worth the cost.

Finally, people who do want a lawyer, but can't find one in time, can often tell the judge that, who may or many not be willing to postpone the hearing to a later date.
posted by kingjoeshmoe at 2:20 PM on September 21

Shoot, I missed the key "I live in Atlanta now" sentence. I am of less help to you.
posted by kingjoeshmoe at 2:21 PM on September 21

Try the Fresno County Bar Association. Considering the urgency, I would try calling them now rather than mess around with their web form for referrals.
posted by exogenous at 2:23 PM on September 21

Yeah, I was going to fly back but it seemed cheaper to find someone to go to the court appearance for me.
posted by davidstandaford at 2:23 PM on September 21

Considering the lateness of the hour I might consider looking at flights as well.

At least that could be a Plan B.
posted by flug at 2:28 PM on September 21

I should have mentioned this in my first answer, but my educated guess is it would be easier to handle this now rather than clean up the mess if you and/or your counsel fail to appear. If a lawyer tells you they can't handle it, ask them to refer you to someone who can. If all else fails, call the estate lawyer or whatever to get a referral for a criminal lawyer. Don't just let the date pass.
posted by exogenous at 2:30 PM on September 21

I have no idea if this is applicable for a urinating in public ticket, but for traffic tickets you can have a trial by declaration (you write a letter to the judge explaining your side of the story, cop does the same, judge mails back the decision). Call the court and see if it's an option. If it is, you'll need to pay the fine in advance and you'll get your money back if you're found not guilty. If you lose a trial by mail you can request an in-person trial.
posted by foodgeek at 2:50 PM on September 21

You also might be able to call the court and reschedule. Tell them you're in the midst of getting a lawyer, if they ask (or you feel the need) for a reason.
posted by rhizome at 3:02 PM on September 21

I would strongly suggest doing whatever it takes to get a lawyer. Depending on the actual nature of the charge against you, you could inadvertently put yourself in a really bad position. Some states, and I have no idea whether CA is one of them (but a quick Google search indicates that it might be), consider public urination a "lewdness" crime for which conviction requires registration as a sex offender. Definitely make sure that you or an attorney is there to represent you in court, but don't plead guilty to anything without discussing it in detail with your attorney about what the punishment or probation will entail. (IANAL)
posted by decathecting at 3:05 PM on September 21

Decathecting: Thank you for the warning. The officer who cited me said that when it is charged as an infraction, public urination does not have any bearing on the sex offender list, and it is only when it is charged as a misdemeanor that is a possibility.

I've googled up a list of attorneys in fresno county that handle traffic crimes, but haven't had any luck in finding someone yet.

Any other advice is gratefully appreciated.
posted by andoatnp at 3:10 PM on September 21

andoatnp: Are you the OP?
posted by floam at 3:18 PM on September 21

Floam: Sorry about that, I switched computers and didn't realize that one was logged in with a different account.
posted by davidstandaford at 3:44 PM on September 21

The officer said that the charge has nothing to do with being a sex offender, but that doesn't mean anything: only the actual law does. Police officers can be wrong. If you had it in writing, that might be good for something (not much though probably), but your word that "he said it didn't count" isn't going to be particularly useful. In all probability, the officer could well be right, but I still wouldn't mess around with this unless you had trustworthy independent verification

It sounds like you need to get the original lawyer back on the phone--the person who said he could help you--and try to hold him to his promise. Failing that, you need to try calling lawyers from the area surrounding Coalinga as there clearly aren't too many options there. As exogenous says, you can call the estate lawyer or whatever for a referral too. Is there a reason you only started to address this last week, or has the original lawyer really been stringing you along for much longer?
posted by zachlipton at 5:09 PM on September 21 [1 favorite]

I have found an attorney who can represent me in court tomorrow. It's more than I was hoping to pay, but I'm just glad that there will be someone there for the hearing.

Thanks for all of the help.
posted by davidstandaford at 6:01 PM on September 21

It sounds like you need to get the original lawyer back on the phone--the person who said he could help you--and try to hold him to his promise.

The lawyer hasn't been paid anything. The court appearance is tomorrow. The lawyer owes this person nothing.

Advice for the questioner: Google criminal defense attorneys. Call the numbers until you get a live person on the phone. I do criminal defense in another state, and my phone is answered by a live person 24 hours a day who is trained to say, "Yes we can help you with that," no matter how short the notice --- because criminal defense clients are notoriously bad at waiting until the last possible minute to hire attorneys. There must be dozens of attorneys out there whose staffs you can reach on the phone RIGHT NOW.

Do not expect to speak to an attorney. Attorneys are too busy to talk to you on such short notice. Talk to the staff. Be prepared to fax your paperwork relating to the charge. If they promise you they can be in court for you, that's good. If they will accept your payment over the phone by credit card, then you should be in good shape.
posted by jayder at 6:05 PM on September 21 [1 favorite]

jayder: I guess you missed my previous comment, but that's just about exactly what happened. It took about a dozen calls, but I found someone near the courthouse who will be there tomorrow.
posted by davidstandaford at 6:12 PM on September 21

So? How did it go?
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 9:21 PM on September 24