Patience: a tool for winning your Criminal case!

 

PATIENCE: A tool for winning your criminal case! 

by Travis Rice

 

    Believe it or not, Patience is one of the most effective tools for winning a criminal case! Remember the old adage "patience is a virtue." But, you want this case to be over right? Its your life we are talking about here! How can patience help you win your case? 

    First, appreciate what patience can do for you! The simple answer is patience will help you win your criminal case. Embrace the idea of patience. A prosecutor is normally the one making the offer to you. Prosecutors are often pressured by their boss, police officers, victims, other attorneys to do things all day long. They walk around anxious and often on edge. It takes time for the prosecutor to like you. It takes time for the prosecutor to get used to an idea of settling the case which might benefit you. Like any other relationship it takes time. Prosecutors often observe you in court and see your demeanor. They want to make sure you stay away from a victim if there is a no contact order. They want to maybe see whether or not you get treatment. Sometimes they even want to feel part of the solution of treatment and you can win brownie points by engaging early in treatment (which takes time). These things take time and can work for you in your criminal case. 

    Second, appreciate what patience does to the prosecutor. The prosecutor also wants to move cases along. In fact, I bet the prosecutor is right now eating his lunch right now in some low lit dungeon of an office tied to their desk waiting for someone to bite at an offer so he doesn't have to try and make a tough decision on whether to dismiss a child predators case or the three DUI's he has scheduled for Wednesday afternoon for trial. Okay...that may be a little dramatic, but prosecutors are busy! They make difficult choices on which cases to take and which cases they want to let go. Speedy trial's put pressure on the prosecutors to dismiss cases. They may have multiple cases set for trial on the same day. Like a heard of gazelles, the lion (prosecutor) can only get one of them. Additionally, their boss could be wanting them to move faster and process more cases because they are soaking up valuable resources of the office. The prosecutor is often so overworked that it takes them many times of seeing the case to really get a good grasp of it. Which always takes time. 

                                                Photo by: above the law

    Third, your attorney will be more prepared if you are patient. Your attorney needs to be able to help you out, which takes time. Here in Canyon County it often takes 2-3 weeks to get the police reports and body cams in order to know what's going on in the case. Without the evidence your attorney cannot assist you in getting the case dismissed or resolved. Also, your attorney has more than your case, so it may take time to review and access the strength and weakness of the case.   

    Meanwhile the prosecutor also often has a victim breathing down his neck to get the case handled quicker. Some victims can be so off-putting and pushy that they annoy and harass a prosecutor to settle the case. In the meantime, State's witness' can disappear, move, or refuse to be involved with the states case anymore. The stress builds for the prosecutor when the judge applies pressure to unclog his already clogged calendar. 

Bundy law Office photo

    Tying to settle the case is dangerous. Attorneys (especially prosecutors) have egos! Its all about wining and loosing. If you push the attorney to move too quickly often times the answer becomes "no" from the prosecutor. If the answer is "no" its often hard to rewind that no to a "yes" because of the ego factor. Prosecutors confirm their bias's and then your stuck with "no." If that happens it could be very bad for you and then you have something really bad to worry about.                                             

    I hope you found this information helpful. Please visit our website at for other tips and a free consultation. Please Click Here