If you filed an appeal for ineffective council, and it is denied, can you still file a writ of some kind?

Also, could anyone explain to me what a "writ of certiorari" is?

Our appealate attorney filed one. On one hand I'm gratful, but on another, it kind of bugs me is that he told me that we have "no way of winning" but that he was going to file it. Of course, it was denied also. Just like he said it would be.
The reason this bugs me is from a taxpayers point of view. If there is no chance of consideration, then why is he wasting tax dollars to do it?
Is he doing it just to line his own pocketbook? Or..is he doing everything he can to help?

This appealate attorney had been disiplined by the bar and was suspended from practicing law for 5 years. Reading the history, I doubt that anyone would have hired him privately. Hense...I'm thinking that is why he is working for the state.

After hiring the attorney from hell, and winning a judgement through arbitration, it was certainly disapointing to get a appealate attorney who had committed worse crimes than my son was accused of.
Plus..the guy was extremely rude and disrepectful and every turn.

Thanks in advance for any help or opinions.

"Doing everything" is pretty typical for any attorney. If this attorney was appointed to handle the appeal, he might not even have ben paid to do that writ. If he was, he was supervided by one of the administrative law firms that farms out the appeal cases around the state.

If he was going to "milk" the case, there are plenty of easy ways to do so, up to a point. The Writ isn't a very good one since he likely simply cut and pasted the appeal arguments so he couldn't bill a lot more.

In criminal law, there is no such thing as a frivilous motion. That means teh court can't sanction for wasting everyone's time. I've seen the darndest things filed. It is a way to try to justify the amount charged. Trail attorneys typically get their money up front, so you don't see this sort of thing too often (plus filing completely BS motions will destroy credibility).
I think the lack of sanctions is a good thing because it encourages creativity and discourages abuse from teh bench if a lawyer wants to try something new.

I'm not surprised that your appeal attorney was, um, a little different. Think of who'd want to be doing that job. Minimum client contact, even minimum human contact. Lots of computer screen time, lots of research. Done well, the sort of person who not only sees trees and never sees the forest; but in reality can only see each individual pine needle. Appeal lawyers are a special breed.

A writ is a way to get an issue of constitutional proportion in front of a judge. It coexests with teh right to appeal, but doesn't have nearly the procedural restrictions about what can be argued.

If you filed an appeal for ineffective council, and it is denied, can you still file a writ of some kind?

Also, could anyone explain to me what a "writ of certiorari" is?

Our appealate attorney filed one. On one hand I'm gratful, but on another, it kind of bugs me is that he told me that we have "no way of winning" but that he was going to file it. Of course, it was denied also. Just like he said it would be.
The reason this bugs me is from a taxpayers point of view. If there is no chance of consideration, then why is he wasting tax dollars to do it?
Is he doing it just to line his own pocketbook? Or..is he doing everything he can to help?

This appealate attorney had been disiplined by the bar and was suspended from practicing law for 5 years. Reading the history, I doubt that anyone would have hired him privately. Hense...I'm thinking that is why he is working for the state.

After hiring the attorney from hell, and winning a judgement through arbitration, it was certainly disapointing to get a appealate attorney who had committed worse crimes than my son was accused of.
Plus..the guy was extremely rude and disrepectful and every turn.

Thanks in advance for any help or opinions.

Gryphon, Is there a time limit for filing a writ? Would the appropiate writ be a writ of heabus? And finally, can you tell me what a writ of centioran is?

And yes, the appeal attorney did get paid. Told us he wouldn't do it otherwise.
Do you know of any qualified appealate attorney that you could recommend?
I sincerely appreciate you help, answers, and advice.

The kind of writ depends on what nees to be reviewed. A Writ of Certiorari asks a higher court to revire teh record produced in a lower court. Perhaps the Judgement and Sentencing is under attack.
However, what a writ is called doesn't matter much, since a writ can be called more than one thing and still be accurate.
For a good description of writ types, see the California Continuing Education of the Bar book titled "Writs and Appeals". Any law library will have it.
There's sort of a time limit, in that there's a legal theory that keeps late filings from happening long after the issues were known to have existed. However, where constitutional issues are at stake the court don't often say it was good issue that wasn't raised timely. It's more of a problem a the Federal level than the State level.
If you PM me I can point you towards some lawyers in N.CA, but I don't know the legal community in San Diego very well. However, a writ lawyer doesn't have to do a lot of travelling, so it really doesn't matter much where teh lawyer is located. I like to suggest trial lawyers who'll also handle writs. I think they make better issue spotters.


Gryphon, Is there a time limit for filing a writ? Would the appropiate writ be a writ of heabus? And finally, can you tell me what a writ of centioran is?

And yes, the appeal attorney did get paid. Told us he wouldn't do it otherwise.
Do you know of any qualified appealate attorney that you could recommend?
I sincerely appreciate you help, answers, and advice.

Well, since we lost all that I had put in here and Gryphon's responses, I'm going to try this again.

1. Met with attorney at arraignment. She filed no motions, no bail reduction, nothing. Said she would try to get him down from 25-life. She was a PD.
2. He told her that alibi information and dozens of threatening emails from the "victims" mother saying "I'll get you for having me thrown out of the Guild", etc.
3. She kept asking for continuences because they were "investigating" the case.
4. He filed a Marsden and she was removed. A new attorney from the PD's office was assigned who began actively working the case and trying to find the evidence, and told my son he thought they could get the case thrown out. The new attorney suddenly retired and he was given back the same attorney that had been removed by the Marsden hearing.
5. Eleven months after he was arrested, he met with an investigator for the first time. By then, everything had been been removed from his apartment.
6. He tried to file another Marsden on the attorney, and the judge refused, sent the recorder out of the room and told my son, "take the deal or get buried in prison". The only people my son can remember being in the room was the judge, the PD and the bailiff.
7. He gave up at that point and agreed to the deal. Then when he found out the ramifications of the deal, he tried to change his plea and that was denied.
8. His attorney told him she would file an appeal, but he has not heard from her since. She is no longer with the PD's office.

I have a copy of the Search Inventory and pictures, but I have been unable to get a copy of the actual Search Warrant. I tried the Sheriff's office - who told me to send a copy of the DPOA I hold on my son, which I did. A couple of weeks later I received the DPOA back saying they would not give me a copy without a Court Order.

I asked the Court for a copy of the Search Warrant. I called and talked to the clerk in records and he checked by name, by case #'s, etc. and could find no file. I got a letter from the Court saying there was no copy of the Warrants on file, but they sent a copy of the Arresting Officer's report. In the report it states that 2 searches were done simultaneously. It states that my son's PDA was taken, given to a Sgt., and not put into evidence - it was not put into property either.

I requested a copy of the Warrants from the DA. I received a letter from the DA stating that the AG had filed an appeal on my son and they could only speak with the AG's office or my son's attorney. I called the DA since I knew my son did not have an attorney and asked for the attorney's name. I was told that they did not have that information since everything came from the AG's office. I explained I had a DPOA and they said it didn't matter.

1. I called the AG's office. They had no record of an appeal being filed. They suggested I call the 5th District Court of Appeals.
2. I called the 5th District Court of Appeals and they had no record of an appeal being filed and suggested I call the County Appeals Clerk.
3. I called the County Appeals Clerk's office, and they had no record of an appeal being filed. The lady asked that I send her a copy of the letter, which I did. She called the DA's office and they would tell her nothing. She called the AG's office and the 5th District Court and was told the same thing I was told. She suggested I call CCAP.
4. I called CCAP, faxed them a copy of the letter, and they repeated steps 1-3. They said an appeal has never been filed. They said the best thing to do was file a writ of HC and once the Writ was approved, then they could represent my son - but until then, there was nothing they could do.

We were told that we should file the Writ JUST on the fact that his PD did not file an appeal like she said she would, since the time limit for filing an appeal is long past. My question is, should we also file on the ineffective counsel issues to give the appeal "more meat"? Or should we wait and see if the Writ is approved on the non-appeal and then file another if it is not accepted?