Do I Really Need a Lawyer for a Desk Appearance Ticket?

One of the most frequent questions people ask after receiving a Desk Appearance Ticket is, “Do I really need a lawyer for something like this?”

First of all, the question of “really” needing a lawyer I think frequently comes from the accused’s sense that the charges are extremely minor. Desk Appearance Tickets, as discussed elsewhere, are generally given only for misdemeanors (less serious crimes) and are generally given to people without prior criminal history.

As reported to me by many clients, the police frequently will advise people that they do not need to hire a lawyer. This I can only understand by assuming that they advise the people they arrest of this in an effort to keep them tame and easy to deal with while they are arresting them. It is astonishing to me that human nature is such that people can be so easily convinced that the police officer who is arresting them is their trusted advisor who is looking out for their interests, and it is everyone else (including lawyers) who is going to try to lead them astray.

But why on earth is the police officer bothering to go through the hassle of arresting you and processing you if he “knows” your case is just going to be dismissed to the point that you shouldn’t even bother to seek legal advice? It just doesn’t make any sense.

You are being charged with a crime. If being charged with a crime doesn’t concern you, then don’t seek legal advice. If the risk of receiving a criminal record doesn’t concern you, then don’t seek legal advice.

How do you think the police officer would have reacted if you simply told him that you didn’t think the case was serious enough to bother dealing with him and you refused to go down to the precinct to get the DAT? I’ll tell you exactly how he would have reacted.

He would have promptly sought you out, put you in handcuffs, driven you to the police station, and thrown you in steel cage like an animal while he wrote up the case. You would have been held in the cage like an animal until you saw a judge for arraignment about 24 hours later.

Doesn’t sound like such a silly unimportant case now, does it?
And by the way, do you think the police officer would seek out a lawyer if HE were arrested and given a DAT?

Right or wrong, innocent or guilty, if you are accused of a crime you are forced to engage the world in criminal court. Do you have experience in criminal court? Are you familiar with the procedures of criminal court? Do you know and understand the rules of evidence in criminal court? Are you familiar with the terminology of criminal court? Do you know how to conduct a trial in criminal court?

Imagine being given a ticket that says that you have to report to the hospital in two weeks for “surgery to remove a lump”. Not being a doctor, you don’t know precisely what the surgery involves, how dangerous it is, how the surgery is going to happen, when it is going to happen, the likelihood of success, or anything else. The person who gives you the ticket isn’t a doctor, but tells you that in his opinion, “everything will be fine.” He tells you just to show up at the hospital when he tells you and everything will work out.

Can you imagine in a million years that you would not seek immediate medical advice? Can you imagine in a million years being satisfied to wait “to see what happens” with respect to your “surgery to remove a lump”?

Could it be that you will arrive at the hospital and the “surgery to remove a lump” will take place quickly, painlessly, and without great fanfare? Sure. But could you imagine showing up at the hospital without having obtained medical advice beforehand? Probably not.

Well a Desk Appearance Ticket is, in the legal world, much like that ticket telling you to appear at the hospital for “surgery to remove a lump”. Could it be that it ends up being something that can be dealt with relatively painlessly? Absolutely. No question about it. But do you really want simply to show up and see what happens? Or would you think that you just might want to have the advice of a lawyer?

It seems to me that you would want to seek the advice of a lawyer.

Another reason people are told by the police and others that they might not “really” need a lawyer is that the city provides a group of public defenders to handle the arraignments of desk appearance tickets.

It should be understood, however, that the public defense organizations that handle arraignments are not engaged to represent people who are not indigent. In other words, if you are not judged to be indigent (too poor to be able to afford a lawyer for a misdemeanor case), you will NOT be assigned a public defender. The public defenders will handle your case for arraignment only and your case will be adjourned for you to return to court with a lawyer.

Further, realize that you will be getting your legal advice from a lawyer who you will meet for the first time the very same day that your case is being called. Also realize that there are quite a few other people who will need the services of the public defender for the same day as well.

You know all those documents you are thinking of bringing with you for the lawyer to review before your case is heard by the judge? Forget it. You know the witness you were thinking of bringing along with you for the lawyer to talk to before the case is heard by the judge? Forget it. You know that long discussion reviewing the details of the case that you were expecting to have with the lawyer so the lawyer could explain things to the judge? Forget it.

That’s not going to happen on the day of your arraignment when the person who is going to do your arraignment has to meet and interview 20 other people as well. If you are expecting to have any sort of considered, detailed review of your case with a lawyer before your arraignment, then you are going to need to contact a lawyer before the date of the Desk Appearance Ticket.

In the end, it is my unsurprising conclusion that yes, you do really need to a lawyer even when you are given a Desk Appearance Ticket. Perhaps this seems self serving, since I am a lawyer. But I would be willing to bet that what I have written makes sense to you and that you now understand the importance of seeking a lawyer whenever you are charged with a crime, whether it happens to be by way of a Desk Appearance Ticket or otherwise.

Don Murray, Esq.
Shalley & Murray
718-268-2171

Shalley & Murray

New York City
118-35 Queens Blvd., Suite 1220
Forest Hills, NY  11375
Phone: 718-268-2171

Westchester County
272 Route 202
Somers, NY  10589
Phone: 914-276-2585