Legal Question in Criminal Law in Washington

my grandson has now been charged with 2 counts of first degree child molestation. He is innocent. Of course everyone is always innocent but in this case it is true. We are not able to afford an attorney. My daughter is low income and I am on disability. We are selling what we can to gather money for an attorney but it may not happen fast enough. The court date is June 6. This case is one childs word against another. My grandson is 14 the other boy is 10. My grandson did nothing wrong. How can this happen that the other childs father is pushing this through. The other childs father has posted remarks on facebook that he will do what ever is needed to ruin my grandsons life. He posted that my grandson was a pedophile and gave out his address and told everyone what school he attends. We are at a loss. Time is running out and we don't know what to do. Should we just contact a public defender and how do we do that? Please help!!!


Asked on 5/12/11, 11:55 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Lisa Mulligan Lisa Mulligan Law Offices, LLC

I'm so sorry to hear that you are going through this - I can only imagine how stressful it has been for all of you. Anyone who is charged with a crime is entitled to the assistance of an attorney, so a public defender will be assigned to represent your grandson if you can't afford to pay for a private attorney. You can contact the Office of Public Defense in your county to find out if they've already assigned someone or if there is any other information they need from you to get someone assigned. Even if you start out with a public defender, you can usually substitute in a private attorney later in the process (as long as you're not too close to the trial date) if you are uncomfortable with the public defender who gets assigned to your grandson's case. Good luck!

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Answered on 5/12/11, 12:12 pm


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