On Monday, 12/18/2006, the head of our adoption agency called my wife. She said she received an anonymous message on her voicemail pointing her to the arrest record on our county sheriff’s website. My wife didn’t give any details, but just stated that I did not do it, and that we were working with an attorney to prove that.
Seems someone is really out to make life a living horror for us. As if what we are going through isn’t bad enough, someone is out there making anonymous phone calls to home study provider, DSS, and now our actual adoption agency!
At this point, my wife and I were getting incredibly concerned they might actually be able to take our daughter. That would have been the blow that sent us over the edge. Fortunately, that never happened.
A new attorney
That Thursday (12/20/2006), my Dad and I began interviewing some additional attorneys. Now that we had more time to research attorney’s and know what qualities to look for, we determined that staying with our current attorney was going to be a problem. First and foremost, he was too expensive. He was estimating my case and trail would cost at the very least $26,000 and potentially far more depending on whether expert witnesses would be necessary. The second issue was that he wasn’t from the same city where my charges were filed.
I heard from more than one source that small communities don’t like “big city” lawyers coming into their court rooms and that I would be far better off getting a local attorney. The other benefit is that the local attorney would know everyone personally, and important factor when handling and trying a case.
I contacted a neighbor of mine that I knew was an attorney. Explaining the situation was very awkward, but just a few words in he explained to me that he already knew what was going on. Life in a small town…gotta love it. He had heard about my arrest and visited the court house to view my public records. Nice…if he knew, who else now knew?
He was actually very helpful though, and even sympathetic to my case. He recommended three attorneys in our area. I hung up the phone, and immediately made appointments with all 3 of them.
The first attorney was on the city council and was a prominent attorney and political figure. He was also a jerk. He was part of a firm located downtown in a big fancy building. He took us downstairs, and almost immediately started cross examining me. I literally felt like I was on the witness stand being grilled by the prosecutor. I was taken aback at how quickly he began asking questions. I finally called him out on it, and his reply was “That’s how it’s going to be on the witness stand. Exactly how it’s going to be.” We left…next!
The second attorney had just recently won a big case where he had won a very high profile case involving a teacher and 12 students. His building was small, dirty, and not very nice. His office, even worse. He was however very proud of his recent accomplishment, and talked about it for a good hour. He was pretty clear about him not having a good relationship with the District Attorney, especially since he recently won that case. At the time, I wasn’t sure if having a good relationship with DA was good or bad. Having an attorney that has a good relationship with the DA is critical.
The third attorney was also part of a firm that had a nice but not over the top office. His demeanor was very friendly, but very pointed. He didn’t “beat around the bush” and was very straight forward and clear. He felt we had a tough, but triable case. He admitted all sex cases involving minors were difficult regardless of the evidence or detail, but that he had lots of experience with these types of cases. We left his office knowing he as the right attorney for us. He was also about $10,000 less expensive, another important consideration.
Some good news
After meeting with the attorney’s, I headed to my house to spend my 3 hours with my wife and kids. We decided to go grab some sandwiches at the local sub-shop. It had been a tough day, without much good news. Meetings with attorneys always stressed me out and upset me greatly. I guess it was because meeting with them served as a reminder of the seriousness of the situation I was in.
Anyway, while eating dinner my cell phone rang. It was my manager. She informed me that Human Resources had reviewed my case and decided to let me return to work. I could start back the day after Christmas.
This call was one of the first view glimpses of hope we would receive throughout this journey. Just one of the points at the top of the hill on the more than 1 and a half year roller coaster we had unfortunately been forced on. When these moments happen, hold onto them, celebrate them. They don’t last long.
