Fred Fisher, Esq. has been an attorney in New York State for over twenty seven (27) years. Over that time Mr. Fisher has been able to acquire the knowledge and skill to understand what is necessary to either Plea bargain your case when possible or how to prepare your case for trial. In Suffolk County, New York for example, the Office of the Suffolk Country District Attorney will not offer you a plea bargain to driving while impaired by alcohol if one (1) of the following three (3) factors exist: 1) refusal of a breath test, 2) submitting a chemical sample of your breath, usually an Intoxilyzer 5000, and producing a breath test reading of .13 of 1%or 3) having been previously arrested and charged with DWI and having resolved the case with a plea bargain to DWAI, driving while impaired by alcohol which is a traffic infraction, not a crime.

Therefore, you might find yourself in a situation where the only way to resolve your case is to plead guilty to misdemeanor DWI, which is a crime, and which will result in your having a criminal record for the rest of your life. This could be extremely dangerous if you are young and are, at sometime in the future, looking for employment. In most employment applications, the question "Have you ever been convicted of a crime?" might result in your not being able to gain employment at a job where you would really like to work. Accordingly, you must retain an attorney who is not only a criminal defense attorney but someone who knows and understands DWI law. Fred Fisher, Esq. for example is a highly skilled and experienced DWI lawyer, but is a lawyer who limits his practice to DWI defense. To put it another way, when you come across the name and telephone number of a criminal defense lawyer, does it not make sense to retain an attorney who only practices DWI defense. Fred Fisher spends an inordinate amount of time, right after your arraignment where you appeared before a judge and where you were either released on your own recognizance or where bail was set by the court. When bail is set, the amount of the bail is either $500 to $1,000. In most cases, where bail is set, most DWI accused individuals are usually able to get a friend or family member to post bail on your behalf. If not, you may have to accept the fact that you have isolated yourself to the point where no one will help you at this very critical time in your life. This is highly unusual, but it can happen. Therefore, before ever getting yourself behind the wheel of a car and before you consume alcoholic beverages, you should contact someone who you like, and who likes you and who is also willing to come to your aid at this time in your life to post bail. Moreover, you may have enough money in your wallet to post bail for yourself.

Assuming the court at your arraignment releases you on your own recognizance, go home and get yourself some sleep. You have just been through a highly unpleasant experience in your life, and before you consider who to retain to represent you, you should be well rested, sober and know your financial situation. In most cases, should you contact a criminal defense attorney and tell him or her that you are looking for an attorney to represent you in your fight or battle to keep the Office of the Suffolk County District Attorney from proving your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Know that you are presumed innocent. That fact will remain with you throughout the criminal process, and can only be removed when the jury, at the end of your jury trial, but before jury deliberations begin, are told by the judge that this presumption of innocence remains with you as a matter of law until the jury near the end of your case, begins their deliberations. Be aware that the jury verdict must be unanimous. If one (1) or two (2) jurors believe that the prosecution has not proven you guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, then, should they maintain their p[position that you are not guilty, a mistrial will be declared or, better yet, the one (1) or two (2) jurors who believe that your guilt has not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt hopefully will convince the other members of the jury that you are indeed "not guilty." Since there is no verdict of innocence, the jury verdict sheet will read either "guilty" or "not guilty." Know that a "not guilty" verdict does not mean that you are innocent, rather it may simply mean that in the minds of the six (6) deliberating jurors believe that the Assistant District Attorney prosecuting your case, has not in fact proved you guilty beyond a "reasonable doubt."

Fred Fisher does not care whether you are in fact guilty or not guilty. You have the right to be represented by an attorney of your choosing and to provide you with a zealous defense. That is why Mr. Fisher spends countless hours preparing a "discovery demand" which he serves on the District Attorney's Office. The Purpose of the discovery demand is to make a formal request on the District Attorney's Office to provide your attorney with virtually all of the relevant police documents which have been prepared in connection with your case. In almost all cases, the prosecution will not provide your attorney with everything which you are demanding them to produce. Therefore, when the prosecution fails to provide something or some things which you have requested, he or she, the prosecutor has to state why he is not providing you with requested documents. Consequently, after the prosecutor responds to your attorney's discovery demand, your attorney shall and should in his first motion to the court, referred to as an "omnibus motion," request the court to order the prosecution to turn over any documents which he or she has rightfully requested in the discovery demand, but which has not been turned over to the defense. In addition, in the omnibus motion, your attorney shall and should request pretrial hearings. For example, if you were asked by the arresting officer at the time when he came to your car after you were summoned to pull over to the shoulder of the road, where you were coming from and whether you had consumed alcoholic beverages, your attorney in his omnibus motion, will seek the suppression of any answers which you probably gave to the arresting officer. That pretrial hearing is commonly referred to as a Huntley hearing. All that your defense attorney has to allege in the omnibus motion is that the answers to his questions were involuntary. If granted a Huntley hearing, the prosecution has the burden of proving that your statements were made voluntarily beyond a reasonable doubt. Your attorney should also assert that you were driving your car lawfully and in a manner that was both sober and prudent. Furthermore, the defense attorney will assert that you and your car were seized without probable cause. This is usually referred to as a Dunaway hearing. If the court believes that the arresting officer did not have probable cause to arrest you, then anything and everything derived from this unlawful conduct on the part of law enforcement is deemed "fruit of the poisonous tree" and should be suppressed. In addition, should you have any prior involvement with the criminal justice system, then your attorney, also in the omnibus motion should request a Sandoval hearing asserting that the prejudicial effect of cross examining you about any prior bad acts or convictions outweigh their probative value. If successful, you should be able to testify, if you choose to, without the fear or worry that something from your past can be brought to the attention of the jury.

In most cases, you must be able to determine that the attorney that you hire and choose to represent you, has experience handling DWI cases. Most criminal defense attorneys that you contact will tell you that they have represented other accused individuals of violating the drinking and driving laws of the state of New York. In point of fact, they have little, if any, experience defending accused DWI individuals. As a result, you might find yourself being represented by an attorney who will appear with you at your first court date after your arraignment, you'll see your attorney discuss your case with one of the prosecutors in the courtroom where your case is pending. Your attorney will then ask you to leave the courtroom with him to have a brief conversation with you outside of the courtroom. There, he or she will tell you that the prosecution has a very strong case against you, and you might want to consider pleading guilty to the crime of driving while intoxicated or operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of at least .08 of 1%. He or she will also tell you that you will most likely not go to jail. He or she might forget to tell you that you most likely will be put on probation for three (3) years. He or she might also fail to tell you that should you get arrested within ten (10) years from the date when you are sentenced on the case he or she is handling for you, that you will be facing a felony DWI charge, which ex[poses you to up to four (4) years in state prison. It is amazing how many individuals plead guilty to misdemeanor DWI without your attorney even filing a discovery demand. So, how does he or she know how strong of a case that the prosecution has against you. At that first court date after your arraignment, your inexperienced DWI attorney will advise you to plead guilty to a crime without the benefit of studying the discovery demand documents which he or she has an absolute right to request.

The bottom line is that your attorney has asked you to pay him several thousand dollars without having done, in my opinion, anything on your behalf. Mr. Fisher always provides you with a copy of the "discovery demand," the omnibus motion," and anything else which is sent out from his office which has anything whatsoever to do with your case. Fred Fisher does this because he wants you to be informed as the case proceeds along the way to a disposition or to a jury trial. You might be anxious or scared about the prospect of having a jury trial. There is an easy answer to that question and that answer is you should be anxious and scared. I have never represented a defendant at a DWI jury trial who seems bored, disinterested or not scared and anxious. In fact, Fred Fisher, hopes that should you testify at your trial, the jurors should see you as being very interested in your DWI case and that they should characterized your demeanor as that of an anxious and scared individual. Who, in their right mind, would not be scared when the judge has the authority to send you to the Suffolk County Jail for one (1) year if you get convicted.

Be assured that if you retain Fred Fisher, Esq., to handle your case, know that he takes your case very seriously. At times, you might say something to Mr. Fisher which you might worry whether you have pissed him off, if you will. There is no reason to worry because you must understand that Fred Fisher, Esq, has a hidden agenda to get you found "not guilty." The reason for that is because if Mr. Fisher is successful in getting you found "not guilty," you will most likely recommend Fred Fisher to represent any friend or family member who has been arrested for DWI. Furthermore, most of the prosecutors know that Fred Fisher only handles DWI cases, and he has been practicing law form almost as long as they have been alive.

Finally, Mr. Fisher does not assign your DWI case to anyone else to handle. He, Fred Fisher, appears with you at any and every court appearance and that his sole goal is to get you found "not guilty" and walk out of the courtroom with him at the conclusion of your trial. Mr. Fisher's fees are not low. In fact, his fees could be considered high, but keep in mind that the only medicine that is expensive is the drug that doesn't work.