Success Story: Prevented a Client’s Arrest During COVID-19 Pandemic
I’ve mentioned this before: while people never want to go jail, now is a historically bad time to get arrested & go to jail with the COVID-19 pandemic still raging (especially in jails). A few days ago I got a call from a potential client who’d been contacted by a detective about a criminal investigation. She told me about her situation, I walked her through the possible outcomes and what I could do for her, and she hired me to represent her. The first thing I did was reach out to the detective to find out as much as I could about the allegations, the status of the investigation, and what I could do to prevent her arrest (especially given the current pademic). This particular client is an essential worker who must continue to work during the pandemic and runs a high risk of possible exposure to COVID-19. When I spoke to the detective I was able to learn about the allegations and the detective’s position on how the police was going to proceed. Most importantly, I explained this particular client’s situation and why her going to jail for even a short period of time to post bond could be catastrophic (it would take her away from her essential work function, it could expose her to COVID-19 that is currently in the jails, and she could possibly expose the people in the court and jail to COVID-19). Because I was courteous and professional with the detective, she was courteous and professional back to me in return. The detective actually went the extra mile and withdrew the warrant (that was already active before my client had even hired me) and agreed to hold off on moving forward on the case until the pandemic passes and we can take the next steps safely.
This was, of course, a wonderful result for this client! She went from having a warrant out for her arrest (which she didn’t know about) that would’ve caused her to miss work and possibly exposed her to a deadly virus. By the time I got off the phone with the detective, that warrant had been withdrawn and now we can take appropriate steps to handle posting a bond and resolving her case without unnecessarily disrupting her life or risking her health and safety.
This is an extraordinary example of why you should immediately contact a criminal defense attorney if you are contacted by the police or any other law enforcement officer. I do this sort of thing all the time for my clients (even when there’s not a global pandemic going on) – contact the detective, learn as much as I can about the allegations and investigation, see if I can intervene on my client’s behalf to get the investigation closed, and work with the detective to prevent my client from being surprised by an arrest out of the blue at their home, at work, or after a random traffic stop.
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