Unfortunately, many individuals represented byTampa Gun Lawyers are forced to spend time waiting for their case to resolve in a county jail. For individuals, that have never been in County jail they encounter many common problems that ultimately lead to major impacts on the defense of their criminal charges. This blog is intended to provide some basics for you to consider while communicating with your loved one while they are in custody.
First and foremost, you should never discuss the specific facts of the case with your loved one while they are in custody. All telephone calls in and out of county jails and state prisons are recorded. Prosecutors are well-known for listening to jail phone calls and later using those same calls against criminal defendants during trial. Many criminal attorneys have been blindsided by such tapes in the defense of criminal charges. Our office has handled many cases where the accused has made no prior incriminating statements to law enforcement throughout the investigation of the crime, but essentially confessed to the crime over jail phone calls. Needless to say, this causes major issues in the defense of criminal prosecution for Tampa Gun Lawyers.
In conjunction with the previous paragraph, it is also worth noting that you should not discuss strategy or any other matter you discuss with your loved one’s criminal defense attorney over an open line into the jail. While conversations between criminal defendants and their attorneys are intended to be confidential and not recorded, there is no way to confirm the same. Many criminal defense attorneys, as a matter of course, do not discuss the facts or defense strategies of the queues case over telephone calls. While there is no chance such phone calls would be admitted at trial, it is still not worth the chance that the prosecutor and/or law enforcement could hear such a discussion and use it for their benefit at trial.
Not only are telephone calls recorded, but also correspondence in and out of the detention facility are scanned and monitored for any sort of incriminating materials. These materials are also scanned for contraband. It is worth noting that many normal, everyday items that are I considered contraband are banned by the local rules of the detention facility. Before sending anything to a county jail and/or state prison, we strongly recommend you consult the rules and procedures for that particular facility to avoid receiving criminal charges. Tampa Gun Lawyers often see the loved ones of individuals who are incarcerated being charged with smuggling contraband into a secure facility for little more than attempting to keep their loved ones safe. We will further discuss this later on our blog, but it is worth reiterating here.
As a related topic, many individuals have lots of questions concerning visitation while their loved one is in custody. In the majority of counties in the Tampa Bay area, non—attorneys are only able to visit individuals through video visitation system. Attorneys are able to have full contact visits as many times as necessary to have document signed or physically reviewed during such meetings. For more information, we recommend visiting the following websites, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, Polk County Sheriff’s Office and Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.
Along the same lines of this topic, it is worth redressing attorney – client privilege. Nearly all communications between attorney and their client are privileged, the primary exceptions concern future crimes, financial crimes and child abuse issues. This is important because once another party is introduced into that attorney – client relationship, the privilege is forever lost. The criminal defense attorneys of Hackworth Law, P. A. generally prefer not to discuss the facts and strategies of the criminal defendant’s case with anyone other than the accused.
If you or someone you know has questions concerning how to communicate with a loved one in County jail, contact Tampa Gun Lawyers of Hackworth Law, P. A. for free case consultation through our “contact us now” option. We look forward to hearing from you and appreciate you taking the time to look over our blog.