Mental Health Issues in Criminal Law

Very often I encounter clients that have mental health issues. These issues often have contributed to the charge for which they are facing.

It is best that those issues whether current or in the past are disclosed to the attorney at the initial client/ attorney interview. As all conversations, this information is covered by the attorney-client privilege. In many jurisdictions a separate mental health court has been established which will help with diagnosis and providing resources that other courts may not be set up to properly handle.

I've had a number of clients successfully complete mental health court and receive treatment that has help them make adjustments. . Here is a link to the overview of mental health court in Jefferson County. Be aware that some of the procedures may have changed since this site was updated.

Updates

Been extremely busy over the past few months.

Working on a number of new cases involving alleged serious police misconduct.

Also busy with DUI cases/ Driver's license appeals and other criminal cases.

We've had success in helping a client avoid a life sentence after the state could not prove previous felony convictions. The state must provide certified copies of convictions in order to proceed under the habitual felony act.

If a Defendant has multiple prior felonies it's still wise to ask for all certified copies especially if those convictions are from out of state jurisdictions.

Never assume that the convictions are certified unless they show them to your attorney.