What is private probation/

[Opus]

My high school english teacher taught us nothing about correct grammar usage. She was more into arguing with the students about how there were never dinosaurs on earth or they would of been in the bible.

Classic!! This definitely would have been my favorite class

Right this second, you're looking at maybe the best teaching aid we've ever known. You don't have to wait for school to learn, learning how to teach yourself will put you far ahead of any standard curriculum. Type your questions into google verbatim and you should get answers, you might have to separate the BS from the chaff on occasion, but a little critical thinking never hurt anyone..

It's never too late.

[Chip]

Classic!! This definitely would have been my favorite class

Chops, i recommend the viewing of http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0815241/ to you.

[DeadCat]

That is a great idea DeadCat thanks for the advice. I followed your thread on opiophile very closely when it happened and was pulling for you because I had plead guilty about a month before you posted your thread I believe. If you don't mind me asking how much did you pay for your lawyer or law fees and how much were your fines for the charge?  You can message it to me if that makes you feel more comfortable but if you don't want to answer that question because it is very private I understand. If anyone else has hired private lawyers on cases they didn't take to trial, if you wouldn't mind telling me how much the cost range was so I know in the future I would appreciate that.

 Is careless driving just a traffic infraction or is it a misdemeanor as well DeadCat? What were the penalties for your charge? Any probation or dmv penalties like license suspension? If a cop is behind me and types in my plate numbers will it show who I am and what my charges are or will that only come up if I get pulled over and he runs my drivers license? That is one thing I don't like about my job is I sometimes don't get off until 11:30 and I work weedends I hate driving at night just because cops are looking to get people for DUIs. I have a lazy eye so my vision is 20/80 and my depth perception is horrible. It took until about last year to be comfortable with parking also switching from a Ford F150 and a Jeep Commander to a Honda Accord helped quite a bit with that. I still have trouble staying in the lines and am constantly checking my mirrors to make sure I am within them because I can't tell while driving unless I am looking in the mirrors and see that I am within the lines.

When I got out of jail the 2500 I had saved up had been used and I was actually $900 in the hole and my grandma had to help me pay a deposit to get a lease on my house after I got my first paycheck. Losing my job in jail and making half as much as I was before made me think I couldn't afford a lawyer so I didn't pursue it. I have talked to a few lawyers but it was after my first case or about legal questions for this case if they had a free consultation phone number. That way I knew what the law statutes were and how they would fight it after I was out of jail and didn't have access to a law library. I have no idea if they have books and the law statutes at the public libraries but it is something I didn't look into.

Griffin

Careless Driving (I THINK) is also a misdemeanor but a far less serious one than DUI but not just a ticket. I think the only DMV penalties are points on your license, no suspension unless you have several of them in a specific time period.

I paid the lawyer $3,000 plus $500 for some expenses related to his getting access to information from the court. If you hire a lawyer, be sure it is an "All IN" rate that covers evrything including trial if it goes taht far and any DMV hearings. I hired a well-rated aggressive attorney who liked fghting with the DA. That was after I interviewed a big, slick downtown law firm that wanted a $5,000 retainer TO START. I thought they were too slick for their own good and would have been happy to take my money and cut a quick deal leaing me marginally better off.

The guy I DID higher said beating a DUI was tough and after going over my case he thought we had a good chance at winning and WANTED to go to trial so he could have the "street red" of beating a DUI. I just couldn't take the chance of a conviction which would have been my second, so the "Careless" was good enough.

The actual fine was quite small $300 with $200 suspended. A $78 court cost was also required but that is mandatory.

I do have to do a couple days community service and get a letter from my doctor essentiall vouching for my health vis a vis substances.

I was put on a "call-in" probation (no office visits, no UAs) whic my probation officer said she woud reduce to "Unsupervised once I gave her the Dr's letter and did the community service.

The extra things, besides the fine, I think were the DA's way of getting a "poiund of flesh" as my price for him dropping the DUI. They couldn't jsut let me pay a fine, no that would be to easy. Either way, I won't have a 2nd strike DUI and won't lose my DL over it, and those were my goals all along.

More and more police cars are being outfitted not only with dash-cams an networked computers, but now "Licesn Plate Reading Cameras." Thsi means any tme it sees a plate it runs the record of the vehicle's owner and it pops right up on the in-car computer screen. So the cop might not even have been looking at YOU but his car was and then rattting you out while he eats a donut. See if your auntie (or someone like her) with a spotless record will let you register the car in her name if she lists you as a driver on the insurance, which you would pay for.

[Griffin (OP)]

Very good information to know. I did get stuck with a private probation company to supervise me. My fines were $4000, my classes will be $1000+ and then UA's for 18 months will be at least $500 so I paid more overall and am on much more strict probation. Like having to take UA's, do classes, and be at meetings and can goto jail and they can and will revoke my probation at any point for anything as little as failing a UA, missing a class or appointment, having police contact of any kind like for being in someones car when they get pulled over, getting pulled over myself, or jaywalking. I just wish I could of went your route. Did he let you set a payment plan or was it an all up front kind of deal? If you were put on a payment plan with a chance to pay it off over a year to 18 months then I completely fucked myself by not researching more and getting a lawyer. O well I guess thats the price of being young you live and you learn.


So far the difference between the way we handled our cases is; I have a worse misdemeanor on my record, I will be paying at least $2500 more in total costs if not $3500 or more, Be on supervised probation with lots of UA's and classes. I had my license suspended for 9 moths and will have to have a breathalyzer that cost $90 a month in my car for 4-9 months, I had to retake my driving and written test and pay all the fines included in that to get my restricted license back. I have to have SR-22 insurance for 3 years with no lapse in payments or time without that insurance or I will have my license susupended for 9 months with no way of getting it back early with all the fines included in that. The state owns me until Jan, 2017 plus I am far more likely to be pulled over and harassed. I also have 48 hours of community service so Ill be doing more of that than you more than likely which costs me more money in the end because it is time I can't work, extra gas money, and time.



Griffin

[hanna]

Holy crap!! You really got reamed

 This is my fear every time I get behind the wheel because I wouldn't be able to pass to physical part of the roadside testing either. Im a CPP & can't stand on one leg, walk backwards etc.

And you're absolutely right re:med levels etc, I've been on the same doses for YEARS.

I really hope you can get public probation. If you decide you want to, you DO have the option of reporting this judge to that states Bar Association. They DO take complaints seriously.

I have mobility issues also. I carry supporting Dr. documentation with me at all times. So far, I've never experienced cops that are big enough asshats to ignore what I show them for the very few times I get stopped.

[razor girl]

I got a DUI in far eastern PA about 10 years ago.  It was sad and avoidable, a buddy left his car keys in my jacket and I left with them, had to go back and drive his car, wrong move, I was totally fucked on Sunday after a weekend of drugs and alcohol.  They took a blood test and never reported the dope, Xanax, ket, coke, oxycodone etc but the alkie level was over the line (even though I hadn't had a drink in at least 12 hours).
I lived in Brooklyn so had to go up there to court on the bus a few times,  I would say IIRC lawyer $2500, court costs $1,000, at least $2,000 in lost work/salary/bus/taxi fees, "drunk driving rehab class" $154 each times x 26 "classes"-even though the State of NY paid for that god bless 'em but still what a ripoff.  Still I was lucky I lived out state and in NYC, license was never suspended etc, I think not owning a car is in your favor in those situations.

[Chip]

fyi, i have only ever had one caution for carrying one gram of cannabis.

what a fucking lightweight i am ... i hope to keep it that way but i'm nobody, anyway.

thank fuck.

[Griffin (OP)]

So yesterday I met with my new P.O. and she seems pretty cool. This private probation thing is very relaxed she said I was the only level one person she has ever had which is a good thing. Instead of having to take 10.5 months of classes I just have to take 6 and the first one is free and the others range from $10-$25 so I can get that over with and after 9 months I will put in a motion to terminate probation early and do that every two months until they let me off or my time has been served. It has already been 2 months.

I was kind of sketched out how easy and relaxed everything was, she said she had no objections to me smoking weed and to just bring her my medical card and I can smoke after that but not before she has seen it. I haven't decided whether or not I am going to smoke though because if I do I won't be able to get take homes. I guess I can just smoke if my UA is at the beginning of the month for a week and then quit until I take my UA the next month. Or wait until I get 2 weeks of take-homes at a time and then smoke one month and fail and get dropped down a phase to weekly's then not smoke and be moved back to getting 2 weeks after the next UA. Then I could just smoke every other month. I am trying to get a job in the mmj field right now. When I get paid next week I am going to send in my application to get a med badge so I can try and work in the weed industry.

I only have to see my PO once a month and after 2 more months it will be every other month and then every 3 months. She also didn't put me on UA's that are $12 a piece she said normally they start people out at 5 a month but sense I am doing one a month for the clinic and its free. I can just keep doing that as long as my counselor sends her the results once a month. Sense I'll be taking one thats free from the clinic every month that isn't even observed I could easily get torn up every day if my UA was in the first 2 or 3 weeks of the month. I have thought about that though and I figure I'll stay on the up and up and try not to get in to anymore trouble.


I just wanted to give you guys an update on everything. I am still waiting to hear back from the judge to see if I will still have to pay the county I was arrested in supervision fees. Even though I am not being supervised by them any longer and I will have to pay the private probation company $50 a month for supervision fees they still have to run it by the judge. My PO thought that was stupid and said most counties just automatically take off those fees when they send them a client. Hopefully they just take it off because if they do it will drop my fees down 2100 and then I will pay $800 to the company to supervise me until the 18 months is up saving me $1300 in overall fines.

Another good thing about being on probation through the private company is that the county isn't being paid to supervise me so they wont be losing any money by letting me off early. As opposed to the first time I got probation and was denied having an early termination 3 times before I got arrested again even though my PO recommended that I be let off. Basically supervision fees are usually $50 a month in colorado and if they let me off early, each month that I am given off would be $50 I would not have to pay. So hopefully they let me off after 9 or 12 months which would save me $300-$450.



Griffin

[DeadCat]

Quick Reply:

Check and see if you can pay the actual probation monies owed to the state or county as fast as possible in a lump sum or overpayments. If you can swing it it will make it harder for the private company to extend your probation and more likely to get early release.

As far as smoking pot vs the mmt I think it boils down to prioritizing your drugs use. Wich would you rather give up?