Considerations as to arranging for surrender of defendant

Considerations as to arranging for surrender of defendant

If counsel meets the client before his or her arrest, one of the first tasks may be to consider arranging the client's surrender for arrest. This may provide some safeguard against harsh treatment within the jail facility, and it certainly will decrease the likelihood that the defendant will incriminate himself or herself at the police station. Wherever possible the counsel should be ready to have the client released on bail or on own-recognizance release.FN64

Generally in a significant computer crime case contact will be made with the officer or agent assigned to the case, and surrender will be coordinated with that individual. This initial contact may provide an opportunity to begin discussions concerning the case. Counsel should not engage in any such discussions without adequate briefing on the facts of the case from the client.

Normally the defendant will go before a magistrate to set bail sometime after the arrest. Consequently it is wise to arrange for the surrender and an immediate appearance before a magistrate for setting of bail. The client should be questioned and the sources of funds available for bail ascertained. If the crime charged is alleged to involve millions of dollars, as several computer crime cases have, a court may hate to impose a low bail. From the client's point of view, argument to get bail to a reachable level can be one of the most important tasks the attorney undertakes.

The first interview with the client is psychologically critical, quite out of proportion to its other functions in the case. The defendant who senses ignorance or disorganization as the characteristic of a previously unknown lawyer, particularly a court-appointed lawyer, is going to have enormous difficulties in establishing a satisfactory attorney-client relationship.