As Americans, we enjoy freedom like few others in the world, and it’s easy to take our right to come and go as we please for granted.
This isn’t always the case with habitual criminals who are used to facing the prospect of arrest. But that is certainly not the norm for most Americans, whose dalliances with the law are few and far between.
Yet it’s a fact that false charges and bizarre circumstances can ensnare even the nicest person, who is often shocked by the turn of events. Unlike the hardened criminal who knows the cat-and-mouse routine quite well, the Average Joe rarely comprehends the nightmare of an unexpected arrest, particularly when the accused is a law-abiding person.
In May 2013, Gail Gerlach of Spokane faced a charge of first-degree manslaughter after firing a gun at a thief who subsequently died from the gunshot. Gerlach told officers he thought he saw a gun, but investigators determined that the SUV thief had been armed only with two sets of shaved keys, a flashlight and a screwdriver. Gerlach said he left his car running in his driveway and watched the suspect drive away with his car. He admitted to officers he fired the gun.
If you are the person under arrest in a situation like Gerlach’s, which has garnered much attention from the press, immediately following such a traumatic event is not the ideal time to locate and retain a family attorney. If you do not have an existing relationship with an attorney, the situation can quickly spiral out of control. In such stressful circumstances and without the presence of an attorney, the person under arrest may utter words that can have a dramatic impact on a criminal case.
Panic and shock in the wake of such an event can leave a person in an extremely vulnerable situation. The take-home lesson here is to form a relationship with an attorney when life is proceeding along smoothly and no horrific crisis is literally knocking on the front door. Adrenaline has a nasty effect on logical, rational thinking.
Plan for such a crisis even if you never expect it to happen. Few people ensnared in these situations ever believe that it could happen to them. If you do not have a family attorney who knows you and is ready to help you during a crisis, today is a good time to find one.