My Public Defender Displayed Unethical Behaviors in the Court of Law

My Public Defender Displayed Unethical Behaviors in the Court of Law

It all started on August 1st, 2010. I was stopped for making a bad turn in Sebring, Florida. I had a few drinks that night, but I was not intoxicated based on Florida Statues. I took a sobriety test and thought I passed it, but I was arrested anyway and had to take a breathalyzer test. I blew a 0.066 on the first one and was told to do it again and I blew a 0.063 on the second one. According to the DUI laws in Florida Statue 316.193, you have to blow a 0.08 or higher to be considered intoxicated. Still I was charged with DUI and spend the night in jail. I was bailed out the next day. The ticket I received was thrown out of court, because the arresting officer, did not turn it in on time. He had 5 days to turn it in and it was not turned in 30 days later, when I went to pay it.

I refused to plea bargain to a lesser charge of reckless driving, because it was not intentional. Because of this my public defender said I was incompetent and had me evaluated by three doctors. Two said I was incompetent and one said I wasn’t incompetent. The judge adjudicated me incompetent against my will, because at the time, I was trying to gain employment as a paralegal and you can not be incompetent and a paralegal both. Being found incompetent wasn’t beneficial to me at the time.

Before my year was up on my commitment to the court as being incompetent, me and my live-in girlfriend had an augment. Her son who was 9 years old at the time, was interrogated by the police officers who came to my house, without authorization from her and he gave them a story as he understood it. However, at court during the arraignment, my live-in girlfriend testified under oath that I did not batter her. But they charged me anyway and found me incompetent again on both charges around February of 2012, which was months later after the alleged battery took place. So now they found me incompetent of two charges that had no merits.

February 2013 comes around and I am still incompetent, but they did not drop the charges without prejudice like the law states in the Florida statute and FRCrP 3.213. Instead in May of 2013, they decided maybe I am not incompetent after all and wants to give me another competency evaluation. It goes further than that.

I contacted Patrick Diggs a social worker referred to me by my psychiatrist at the VA, who works for the Veterans Justice Outreach department to try to keep veterans out of jail, he is located in the Bay Pines VA Medical Center. I thought he is out to help me and he said he will send me something to sign. He sends me a VA Form 10-5345 for the request for the authorization to release medical records and health information, requesting my medical, psychiatric and substance abuse records for my public defender to have access of these documents. I refused to sign it and could not understand why Patrick Diggs a VA Counselor would used this form out of the VA for a public defender to have access to my records. This form is usually used to apply or assist veterans to get their benefits and not for criminal investigations. So who can I trust?

Remember I was adjudicated incompetent by a judge after two doctors determined I was incompetent and my chances at a livelihood as a paralegal was destroyed as a result of this. I will never be a paralegal, my chances are gone. Also, take into account that I already signed the proper medical release document for the courts and the VA determined in writing that if they want my records, they will have to subpoena them. So why did Patrick Diggs try to get my records for them thru the backdoor? Furthermore, my public defender told me it is not his job to get my medical records for the court, it is the prosecutors burden of proof to access these records to attempt to prosecute me. So why did my public defender attempt to get my records by unethical means?

I do not know who to trust now. My public defender is working for the prosecutor and my social worker is trying to assist my public defender by unethical means. He tried to trick the VA into sending my medical records to the public defender to be used by the prosecutor, after the VA clearly told them they had to subpoena them if they want them. And the charges are without merit to begin with. Who can I trust but God!

Paul