Quote:
Originally Posted by ARIES666
I can send you her contact info (real name, address in prison, etc) via the private messaging. However, being a lawyer, wouldn't you have access to any information about the case?
More pics of Sylvia tomorrow, btw!  |
No...until an attorney is formally retained by a client, that attorney has no more right to a file than anyone else...in Wisconsin, we have open records laws that require most court records (except for juvenile records and a few others) to be open to viewing/copying by anyone who walks in the courthouse door. There is usually a copy fee involved, sometimes quite a bit, but it's still an open record for inspection. I am not at all familiar with California laws, but assume they have something similar, so anyone can walk in and look at her file. That said, every state, every county, and sometimes every judge in a county does things a little differently. They all follow the same laws but those laws can be interpreted and applied differently, at different times by different people. As an attorney I know all the District Attorneys and judges and other defense attorneys very well in my area, and will often get concessions from those people for my clients due to those relationships, that someone from outside this area wouldn't be able to get. My point being, the best hope for Sylvia is for an attorney in that area to take a look at the matter, talk to the original people involved and get all the facts straight, so that this thing could be straightened out. That attorney should also be familiar with (California) appellate law, which is a specialized area of the law that not all attorneys are familar with, and is often much more time consuming and expensive than the day to day misdemeanor/traffic/felony local stuff that I usually deal with. And, all THAT said, again, if I can help, I can take a look at what's there and at least see what's been done to appeal this, if anything, and offer some suggestions on other avenues to take.