Need some legal advice, please!

[tavernier]

My husband's daughter was arrested in KY ten years ago. She was in her thirties. She was coming to Florida to start a a life away from bad influences. Sadly, she was traveling with a guy from her 'old life' who was in possession of drugs. She was stopped in KY on a DUI. She did time for this and was released back to Michigan.

Forward 10 years:She came to Florida, worked up to a good job, saved money, took care if her autistic child, everything going well, no arrests, no problems, model mother and employee.

Last month KY arrested and extradited her... Seems as though she hadn't finished their requirements. She had no clue they were searching for her... Turns out they were sending papers to an old address.

Within the blink of an eye she lost her home, car, possessions, job (even though her employer loves her and is holding her job), and her son has been shipped off to relatives up north.

We can't talk to her... She called once but the connection was awful.

We are frantic!!

Isn't there someone we can reach about this? It's like she has fallen into a hole!!

[villager]

1. More proof of how detrimental our whole "prison industrial complex" really is

Best to you and your daughter.

Keep us posted....

[elleng]

2. Find an attorney immediately.

[tavernier]

8. Do you know any good lawyers in KY?

Our lawyer and her employer (who has been hunting as well) personally know of no attorneys in Bowling Green KY that they can recommend.

[elleng]

9. No, but post this in the KY forum.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. She's entitled to an attorney, so it's likely that

the court has or will appoint one for her. You might try calling the court clerk in the city where she is being held, to find out who her lawyer is.

Good luck - this sounds like an awful situation. Hope she can get some good legal help.

[steve2470]

5. good post ! nt

[steve2470]

4. yea get a lawyer ASAP on Monday....

Sounds like a criminal defense matter. Good luck !

[Omaha Steve]

11. Many small firms

Have a lawyer in the office on the weekends playing catch up.

[steve2470]

12. ah, then maybe she can find help this weekend ! nt

[grasswire]

6. So is she incarcerated now?

And has she seen a lawyer?

My first advice (as a person who has volunteered for criminal justice reform and visited many a person in jail): Make sure that the facility where she is knows that people on the outside are concerned about her and working to ensure her safety. Phone the facility and ask how you can send mail to her, and ask if you can put some (modest) money in her account there. Ask about telephone policies. Prisoners whose loved ones demonstrate an interest are more liely to be safe while inside. Once you get the info, send her some mail. A big envelope, maybe priority mail. Big enough to notice.

Will she be extradited to Kentucky?

Can she find some legal help somehow?

[BrotherIvan]

10. I learned something as well from this post

Thank you for the information, it makes a lot of sense.

I hope everything works out for the best. It must be an awful situation.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

7. I'm no lawyer but I'm going to take a wild guess that --

when she was sentenced and later released the conditions were provided to her in writing and it probably bears her signature. I seriously doubt she can plead ignorance, not that the system recognizes ignorance as an excuse. She'll need a better answer. Not saying it's fair to someone who is trying to reform and locking her up again would be a waste of everybody's time but let's not kid ourselves either.

If you know where she is being held call that facility and see what their mail protocols are as well as visitation rules. They can't hold her in communicado and I presume she's entitled to legal representation of some sort.

As scary as it is, keep your wits. Frantic never helps. That could lead to defensiveness and that would be bad when what you really want is to present an image that this is not the sort of reformed citizen worth locking up.

For what it's worth.

[Dustlawyer]

13. The State Bar of Kentucky may have a 24 hour local referral service or a list of attorneys

for Bowling Green. Also try bail bonds companies, they are probably your best bet! Good luck!

[tavernier]

14. Thanks to everyone for the help and advice.

It just lets me know (once AGAIN) that I have a caring community of friends who jump in with support and good advice and even names and numbers. We appreciate you all (yes, I'm crying). She is just a good person who has struggled to get her life together and finally almost had it... And now she will lose it all.

Are there truly no criminals in Kentucky that they have to waste their time and money on someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time ten years ago?

[Go Vols]

15. If she was arrested,

was it for revocation of parole or probation,bench warrant or a charge she somehow didn't know she was facing?
States usually don't extradite that far for something minor.

[tavernier]

16. I don't know.

We didn't really talk about it because she lives in Tampa and we're in the Keys, so when we visited we had other stuff to discuss. Now her calls are limited in time.

She is listed as a fugitive but I
know she wasn't aware she was being sought. She never hid, had a Florida drivers license for ten years, listed phone and address, flew back and forth to Michigan to visit her mother yearly with a ticket under her real name.
She wasn't avoiding anyone.

[Sweet Freedom]

18. FYI: The county district clerk

should have a searchable database online. You can look her up and see the charges against her.

[Chan790]

17. Also, start a Change.org petition.

There was a guy earlier this year in an identical situation (got arrested, went to jail, did his time, was released, lived ten years as a model citizen without as much as a parking ticket, someone overzealous in the prosecutor's office decided he hadn't paid his debt to society (I believe he was determined to be a "mistaken release&quot and had him re-imprisoned.) and the fact that there was a 50,000 signature petition calling for the court to dismiss the charges on the basis that he was a model citizen basically shamed them into throwing the whole thing out and the guy walking free and clear.

[Go Vols]

19. yep,this guy

http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Hearing-set-for-Missouri-man-who-went-to-prison-13-years-late-due-257930891.html