Do I really need a lawyer?

Even my lawyer couldn't truthfully answer this question, but he was good at selling himself because even though he isn't a criminal lawyer per se, he had done a few DUI cases, had experience we the court precinct I was assigned to and even knew the judge pretty well. But still, my case is cut and dry, there's no way he's going to cut any of the costs involved, he can try and get points reduced and maybe reduce the probation time. But chances are I will get that anyway if I stand on my own since this is a first offense with no other bad marks on my driving record. With all of the other costs just starting to be realized I was back and forth on this for awhile.

That fact that he did know the court, that and I am an imbecile when it comes to new situations like this I figured it is probably worth having him, even at the hefty fee of $1500.  A fee that he was adamant be paid asap. I didn't have those kind of funds available so we agreed to break it into 3 payments, but still asap.

With this and other unexpected bills piling up quickly I needed to work on some financial changes, quickly. I had some zero interest loans for home improvement stuff earlier this year that was eating up my monthly income, making more payments on top of those was not going to last long. And with all this new expense there was no way I was going to pay those loans off before they expired and all the accrued interest gets slammed on me. I needed a debt consolidation loan. Pile up my existing debt into something I can afford so I can afford to shell out a bunch of money for these new debts. Great plan.

It worked though, I didn't have to miss any payments on anything and I was able to pay the lawyer and many other fees that I'll explain in the next post. There was one heart stopping moment while finalizing the loan after it was all approved... they needed a copy of my drivers license!  I don't have a drivers license, all I have is a piece of paper that says OWI all over it. I didn't mention that to the loan officer and just faxed over my passport with an explanation that I lost my drivers license and was waiting for a replacement. It all worked out fine, but that was an eye opener! I've never not had a drivers license to use as a photo ID.


Costs:

Bond	$100
Vehical Release	$20
Towing	$85
Lawyer	$1500
Total	$1705

The bills start piling in

And many are completely unjustified. Sure everyone knows a DUI is going to cost you a bundle, but you might be surprised at how many different people have their hand out simply because you f*cked up. They know that you just want to make this go away so you can get back on with life. They also know exactly how much they can get away with charging you if you are employed, a home owner, married, etc. In every aspect of dealing with this it has always been apparent that the only thing anyone cares about is getting money. The court even had a mandatory financial profile sheet that I had to fill out that included income, debts and assets. It wasn't very specific requiring financiers or account numbers so it was pretty easy to pad it in the red as far as debt to income, which isn't that far from fact in my case, but I highly doubted it would be checked nor make any difference in my fees. I'm sure I was being charged the maximum allowable fees for the offense. While most of the fees might be standardized by law, spreading the wealth is not, and there is a plethora of 3rd parties that they can order you to pay. Like drug testing companies (owned by people with ties to the court), counseling, community service (yes even this costs money) and court rehabilitation programs (founded by a judge).

The first bill I got in the mail was from the police station for $450. Talk about unjustified! This is a tax-payer funded public police department, how can they bill me directly? They called it a Cost Recovery Invoice and clearly stated that "this invoice is in addition to all court costs and fines". They are charging me for pulling me over and incarcerating me?... as I double checked the envelope looking for a packet of anal lubricant! I even tried to fight this fee by asking what the Cost Recovery fee is for a speeding violation, "there is none", well that's what I was pulled over for so I shouldn't be charged this fee. I was talking to a brick wall.

The next one came from the state and was poetically named Driver Responsibility Fee with some law codes so you knew there was no getting out of it and that some governor signed this into law at some point. This one is for $500, again over and above any other fines levied for the offense. Where does this money go?  And something that they don't immediately specify on the bill is that this is 1/2 of the total fee, they bill you again 6 months later for another $500. I'm helping somebody enjoy their yacht no doubt. They do allow a payment plan if you call, and they are quite friendly about it. I used that to reduce the shock of this expense to $100 per month.

At this point I cringed every time I checked the mail. What's next? Well there's a Drivers License Reinstatement fee of $125, to be paid to the Secretary of State at the end of the license restriction, which in my case was 3 months.

A couple local DUI lawyers sent me some ads in the mail, which was disturbing. I guess this is all public record now, but I didn't realize that it would be that public. I worried what else I would get.

Costs:

Bond	$100
Vehicle Release	$20
Towing	$85
Lawyer	$1500
Police Dept Cost Recovery Fee	$450
State 1/2 of Driver Responsibility Fee	$500
SOS License Reinstatement Fee	$125
Total	$2780