If there is one thing a person being accused of a crime wants to do it is be as helpful to their Staten Island lawyer as possible. If you are spending time in a detention center of some sort awaiting your trial, then you will have plenty of opportunities to make a mess of your case. But if you make the right choices, then you can be the ideal client and give your attorney a chance to represent your side with confidence.
Don’t Talk About Your Case
The most basic rule for any person in jail awaiting trial is to not talk about their case with anyone. People in jail feel like they are part of an underground community that keeps a watch over each other, but that is just not true. If your cellmate or anyone feels they have information they can use to get you in deeper trouble and get themselves out of trouble, then they will.
Stay Out Of Trouble
Your attorney is going to try to insist that you are a responsible citizen who deserves a sympathetic look. If you cause trouble in prison, then that image is going to be very difficult to sell. Good behavior is not just a good way to get time taken off your sentence, but it can also be a way to potentially avoid a sentence in the first place. Be on your best behavior in prison and stay out of trouble.
Try To Get Caretaker Positions
Caretakers are given special permissions to help run certain parts of the jail, and it looks very good in court for your Staten Island lawyer to be able to say that you are a caretaker. Even if you are only in prison for a short period of time, the kind of criminal defense attorney Staten Island residents use knows how to use your caretaker position to your advantage.
Volunteer
Each prison has plenty of opportunities for you to volunteer for various productive activities. If you take the time to volunteer for some of those positions while you are awaiting trial, then that makes your attorney’s job easier.
Watch Your Phone Calls
The phone calls you make from prison to loved ones are usually monitored by the prison officials. If you say something incriminating while on the phone, it could turn up in court. Just as you want to avoid talking about your case to anyone in jail, you also want to avoid saying anything on the phone as well.
If you put in the right amount and kind of effort, you can help your attorney put together a good case for you while you are in jail awaiting trial. But if you make the wrong decisions, then you could turn what could be a short prison sentence into something you could regret for the rest of your life.