Wisconsin: “A Beloit teen faces three felony charges after allegedly burglarizing cars in Janesville to help pay for a lawyer, according to a criminal complaint.” [Beloit Daily News via Obscure Store]
Chronicling the high cost of our legal system
by Walter Olson on April 27, 2009
Wisconsin: “A Beloit teen faces three felony charges after allegedly burglarizing cars in Janesville to help pay for a lawyer, according to a criminal complaint.” [Beloit Daily News via Obscure Store]
Tagged as: attorneys' fees, crime and punishment

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I can’t figure out how in a criminal complaint the fact that the defendant claims to need money for a lawyer has any relevance, unless to bolster the prosecution’s case – to establish a pattern. On the civil side perhaps it could be useful for a suit, much the same way that lady says MacDonald’s played a hand in a street bum putting her down. “The lawyer knew or should have known that his fees were excessive to the point that it in part caused this young man to seek a life of crime in order to pay his legal bill.” It reads like something from O’Henry.
I want to know why he needed money to pay for a lawyer. Did he reject the public defender? or was he simply never offered one in the first place?
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