I get at least two requests weekly on how to expunge a criminal conviction to some minor offense that was committed years ago, which is impacting work opportunities.   What is painfully obvious in many of the requests is: (1) a good attorney would have beat the charges outright, and there would have been no conviction; and (2) the person had no idea of the impact that the plea would have on his/her life years later.  In many instances, the accused entered a guilty plea without the benefit of an attorney, because: (1) the accused did not think the charge was serious; (2) the accused thought the plea from the friendly prosecutor was a good deal; or (3) the accused claims he could not afford an attorney.  As a criminal attorney that hires real estate attorneys when I buy property, I cannot imagine any scenario in court where going pro se is a sound idea. 

For those that argue they cannot afford an attorney, let me provide a response.  By way of example, I recently had a client (Case # 2010D-7951-4) who entered a plea on December 20, 2010, while representing himself.  He was sentenced to twelve months on probation, which carries a $44 per month supervision fee (total $ 528), forty hours of community service, and a certified family violence intervention program, which lasts about six months and costs another $ 500.  There was no fine of $1000, which may have been a selling point on December 20, 2010.  Without counting the time away from work to report to probation, complete community service and attend the family violence intervention program, the total cost of the plea, which would have remained on his record forever, was more than $ 1000.  After the client retained me, I filed a motion to withdraw the plea, and eventually got the case dismissed.  My total fee was $ 1500.  Let me suggest that if any client can afford to take off work to fulfill the conditions of probation and pay more than $ 1000 in costs associated with being on probation, then that client can also afford an attorney.  If the pro se litigant cannot afford $ 1500 for an attorney, he/she cannot afford to be on probation, because failure to pay court costs, fines, probation supervision fees, program fees (drug evaluation, anger management, etc.) will result in a violation of probation, and probably jail time.  So, if a pro se litigant genuinely cannot afford an attorney, he/she needs to as the judge for a court appointed attorney or the public defender.  Going pro se if never a good option.

Here are my five top reasons you never want to represent yourself in court:

(5)    Judges hate pro se litigants.  I does not matter how organized you are, or how much the judge smiles at you, the judge is aggravated by your presence without an attorney, because it means the judge will have to work to try and keep you focused on the legal issues, when you want to talk about the facts of the case – e.g. you cannot tell the judge what a witness, who is not present in court, observed;   

(4) You don’t know the law, which means there are pre-trial motions you are not filing, which would result in the case being dismissed;

(3) You don’t know all of the options available to you.  Every jurisdiction has special programs meant to both rehabilitate defendants and relieve the pressure of a crushing caseload – e.g. Dui court, pre-trial diversion, etc.;

(2)   You don’t know courtroom etiquette, which means that the judge will have to tell you where to stand, when to speak and how not to address the prosecutor directly, all while not being allowed to help you (did I mention that judges hate pro se litigants?); and

(1)    A conviction is forever, that means until you die.  It will not be expunged because you now have a child, it is difficult to obtain employment with the conviction on your record or the magical seven years has passed.