Will I Have To Meet With Any Sort Of Pre-Trial Probation Officer?

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You may have to meet with a pre-trial probation officer if the court decides to release you into a supervised release program (SRP). I will try to make it so that you won’t have any government interference in your life while the case is pending, but if violence or a high reading on a DWI is involved in the case, or if you are a repeat offender, then the judge may not feel comfortable releasing you on your own recognizance. As a result, they will put you in the custody of probation and you will have to check in with a probation officer.

Should I Do Any Sort Of Counseling Before My First Court Date? Does That Help Or Hurt My Case?

I do not think it ever hurts a case to start counseling before your first court date, but I do not recommend it. I may recommend going to counseling if you have an ongoing problem with anger or a chemical dependency that lead to your arrest. From one human being to another, I encourage you to address the issue for yourself, rather than for the court case; there is a big distinction between the two. While going to counseling before the first court date can be helpful, I wouldn’t want to tell you that it definitely will help, because it might not; and that would cause me to lose credibility with you. I am very upfront about when there is a need for counseling. If you present yourself as someone who is just finding it very difficult to be without a drink or without pills, then I would encourage counseling for you.

What Advice Would You Give To Potential Clients Who Have Been Arrested In New York?

If you’ve been arrested in New York, my first piece of advice is to be patient; it is a long process to gather the paperwork that we are entitled to from the prosecutor’s office and to conduct the type of investigation that we need to. For example, when there is a transcript of a proceeding or a 911 call, we need to obtain that evidence from the police department. That is something that can take months, and we need to craft a detailed plan of action. Many people see on television shows that these processes occur very quickly and assume the same for their case, but that’s just the nature of television and people really need to be patient.

The reality is that we may have five or six court appearances spread out over five-week intervals before we have a really good idea about whether or not we are going to have a hearing. So, there is a flurry of activity upfront after the arrest, and then a low level of activity while we gather information, have a conference with the prosecutor, and show the prosecutor who you really are as a person. Sometimes we do that by having an evaluation done and going for counseling, which also takes time. It is frustrating for many people to see how slow the system actually works. It is a grind and it is done on purpose a lot of times when there is a case that should be tried in six months. The prosecutor’s office wants to see if they can grind you out, so we try to speed things up when we can. Sometimes we try to slow things down so we are not moving too quickly without the proper information. In some case, we hire private investigators, and it can take a couple of court appearances in order to obtain the correct information from them. So, there is not a set number of appearances for any one case, especially not in the way my office goes about handling cases.

For more information on Pre-Trial Probation In New York, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you’re seeking by calling (631) 667-7100 today.