Frequently Asked Questions

These Are Questions That Trial Attorney Gaba Receives and Answers Every Day

Question:

My girlfriend is quite young, just in her early teens. Her family doesn’t like me because I am a lot older than she is. They say our behavior is not proper. They have been threatening that they are going to call the police to complain about our relationship. I heard they have an appointment in a couple of weeks. Is it too early to get help from trial Attorney Gaba?

Answer :

NO. You can present trial Attorney Gaba will all the facts. She can discuss with you what options you have. She can discuss with you activities and actions the law says are prohibited. She can give you information about how to deal with the police if they call to interview you at the police station.

Question:

My buddies and I were driving across the state. I was the driver. We stopped at a highway restaurant and they got out and ate. I waited in the car. When they left the diner, they never talked about what they ate but had a lot of extra cash on them. I think they are being investigated for armed robbery. I only sat in the car and waited for them. I never left the car. No one has been arrested yet. Will trial Attorney Gaba talk to me if no one has been charged or arrested so far?

Answer :

Yes. It is better to establish an attorney-client relationship a month too early than one day too late. Trial Attorney Gaba does not charge for consultation. She will probably give you a full list of things to do and not to do while the investigation goes on.

Question:

I am currently sitting in jail. I was never told what the charges against me are. No one has given me any paperwork. Does trial Attorney Gaba meet with people who are currently in jail to start the process of establishing an attorney-client relationship?

Answer :

Trial Attorney Gaba receives telephone calls from brothers, girlfriends, parents, and best friends, telling of a person in jail who needs immediate assistance. Because she is an attorney, she doesn’t have to wait for standard visiting hours. She can see jailed people in the evening, on weekends, and even on holidays.

Question:

I received a telephone call from the police to say they want me to show up and give them my “side of the story“. They didn’t say what I am accused of doing. I made an appointment but didn’t show up. Now they have called again and are forcefully requesting that I show up. What do I do?

Answer :

YES. In fact the answer is ABSOLUTELY YES. Attorney Gaba takes cases outside of Franklin County (the Central Ohio area) ALL OF THE TIME. In the years that she has been practicing, she has taken cases in about 25 different counties all throughout the State of Ohio. She expects that by the time she retires, she will have had trials in all 88 counties in Ohio.

Question:

If I hire trial Attorney Gaba, how will I know how much I owe her?

Answer :

Trial Attorney Gaba ALWAYS has an Attorney-Client Fee Agreement Contract. She herself signs the contract. Her client signs the contract. The contract clearly tells how much is being charged for her professional services.

Question:

In the last couple of days, I have been indicted on a bunch of felonies. I myself have no money. My uncle and step-dad can come up with Attorney Gaba’s fees. Will she take my case if someone other than myself will pay the fees she asks?

Answer :

YES. Trial Attorney Gaba will accept a case where a person other than the accused person is paying. But the paying person will have to sign an Attorney-client Fee Agreement Contract along with the person being defended.

Question:

If I can only come up half of the fees mentioned in the Attorney-client Fee Agreement Contract, does this mean I can’t hire Attorney Gaba immediately? Do I need to have 100% of her fee from the very first day?

Answer :

Not only does Attorney Gaba discuss her fees ahead of time, she will also discuss the timing of the payment. If there are to be a total of two or three payments to be made, that will be listed in the Fee Agreement. As long as you pay according to the terms of the Fee Agreement, she will start working on your case as the of the date of the signing.

Question:

I work for a company that has only Federal Government contracts. Lately a lot of money has disappeared from various checking accounts. Federal auditors show up at the company every day. Does Attorney Gaba take cases where the accused is to be tried in a Federal District Court?

Answer :

YES. Trial Attorney Gaba is licensed to practice in the U.S. District Courts in Central Ohio. In fact, her federal license permits her to appear in any U.S. Federal District court anywhere in the United States.

Question:

I work in the cash receipts department of a large company. The incoming checks go to a different department. I am one of only five people who handle the cash. Lately a LOT of cash is missing. I believe that one of my co-workers is shipping money to her family in Central America. She has also been handing out cash bonuses to other people who work in this department. We do not receive “official paperwork” for the extra money we are getting. I have received some of this unexpected cash bonus money although I never asked for it. Who should I tell about all of this? Should I say nothing? No one has been arrested yet.

Answer :

See an attorney immediately. Only a company pay-master can pay employees. All compensation given to employees must be recorded and reported to the IRS in one of many forms that employers are required to file. It is critical that you review with an attorney exactly what has taken place and see if state or federal laws have been broken, by inadvertently and unknowingly. Planning for criminal charges of embezzlement or complicity is important when looking to put together a defense.

Question:

I expect to be charged with a felony because of my relationship with an underage girl. Does Trial Attorney Gaba ever make appointments to see new clients after standard business hours (5:00 o’clock in the afternoon)?

Answer :

YES. There are days that trial Attorney Gaba is in trial all day, from 8:45 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. In order not to fall behind in her work, she will accept appointments to see people in the early evening. Attorney Gaba, when it is necessary, will make appointments to see new clients on a Sunday afternoon. If that is the case, she will probably be wearing jeans and a casual sweater. It is important to you (as a potential new client) to see Attorney Gaba as soon as possible. She will make all reasonable attempts to adjust her schedule to meet with you.

Question:

I am currently being defended by a court-appointed public defender. Am I allowed to switch defense attorneys and hire trial Attorney Gaba?

Answer :

YES. You are permitted to do this - - but in a timely fashion. DON’T WAIT for the last minute. Remember that court-appointed attorneys are paid by the county commissioners. A privately retained attorney, such as trial Attorney Gaba, must be paid privately by you or your family or friends.

Question:

The attorney I have defending me right now was hired by my step-dad. This attorney is very nice and polite. I have figured out that he specialized in tax and estate planning. He does trial work, but not that much. Can I change defense attorneys?

Answer :

YES. However, every county bar association has special rules regarding changing your defense attorney. These rules must be followed. Also judges have their own local rules of court that must be followed when changing attorneys. The old attorney must be paid for the work that he has actually performed. The change must be done in a timely fashion so that the judge does not see the change process as that of merely delaying the trial. The new attorney must be paid her new and separate fee.

Question:

My case was already tried once. The jury never reached a verdict and the case was declared to be a mistrial. Am I forced to keep the old attorney? Can I have trial Attorney Gaba for the re-trial?

Answer :

Yes. You can have a new attorney for the re-trial.

Question:

My case is about a “sexual involvement with a young teenage girl” where the alleged incidents took place in Ohio and another state. The trial is to take place in the other state and not Ohio. Has trial Attorney Gaba ever practiced in another state? Can she take an out-of-state case?

Answer :

YES, Trial Attorney Gaba has practiced in another state. Yes, if the matter of professional fees are taken care of, she can accept a trial case in another state, but the process depends on getting admitted to practice law in the other state. She has done this in the past. The process involves a lot of administrative paperwork. She has been admitted to practice in several other states in the past.

Question:

I have been served indictment papers claiming I committed 18 different felonies. There are 18 separate counts. In truth, I am not guilty on 15 counts, but I am kind of guilty on about 3 counts. Will Attorney Gaba defend me on all 18 counts?

Answer :

Absolutely YES. The law states that ALL persons in the United States are entitled to a competent and meaningful defense. It does not make a difference if you are guilty of 1, 5, or all 18 counts of the indictment. Attorney Gaba will defend you.

Question:

My case was already tried once. I was found not guilty on all charges except one. Can Attorney Gaba appeal the conviction of that one charge?

Answer :

YES. Remember that all appeals require a transcript. That is a separate and independent cost associated with the appeal process. The professional fee that you paid to your trial attorney does not cover the fee for your appeal attorney. Attorney Gaba would have to be paid for her appeal work.

Question:

My federal criminal case was dismissed for reasons that I don’t really understand. Now the federal prosecutor is appealing the decision of the trial court. Can Attorney Gaba represent me in the U.S. Court of Appeals?

Answer :

Attorney Gaba can represent you in the U.S. Court of Appeals.

Question:

I was picked up by the police and thrown in jail. This was a while back. Every day one of the guards says I will be getting “papers”. The papers have never come. Other guys in jail say I should file a “HABEAS”. I don’t know what that is. It’s like I’m going to sit in here and rot for the rest of my life. Can something be done? What is a habeas? Will that type of paper get me out of here?

Answer :

A petition for a Writ Of Habeas Corpus is a legal paper that asks “Why is this person deprived of his freedom?” (i.e. “Why is he being held?”) You can bring your circumstances to the court’s attention and force a judge to rule whether you are being held illegally. YES, Attorney Gaba has filed this type of petition for the issuance of a Writ in the past.

Question:

I work in a truck repair garage. There is no accounting system in existence. It is just money in the door and money out the door. In the past, in-coming money always was a lot larger than the out-going money. In the last month, the excess money that wasn’t going out just seemed to disappear. The boss is about to kill someone. The words “embezzlement” and ‘theft” have being thrown around. If I am charged with "embezzlement", does Attorney Gaba have an accountant or CPA to help her with the research and analysis of all the money that came in and out the door?

Answer :

YES. Attorney Gaba has had “missing money” cases in the past. She has accountants and CPAs on call. They help her reconstruct and recreate a money trail. Remember: the prosecution must first establish their case of how much money there was in the first instance. If there never were any accurate accounting books and ledgers, the defense may make a motion to dismiss. The prosecution must establish a prima facia case to begin with.

Question:

I took over caring for my sister’s child because it was so sickly and she had other children to take care of. I took the child to a ‘free open clinic’ to have it checked. An hour after I got home, a worker from the County Child Protection Agency came and took the child from me. I received no papers. A week or two later, the police came to my door and handed me an indictment paper. I am being accused of felony child endangerment. How can I figure out what is going on?

Answer :

Attorney Gaba will sit down and go over the legal papers that you have. She can get other legal papers that may not have been served on you. Should you choose to hire her, she will defend you on the felony charges.

Question:

I am a 27-year-old woman. The day of my birthday I got roaring drunk and did things with the 14-year-old boy I was babysitting. The boy wasn’t hurt. I have been charged with “sexual crimes” involving a minor child. How can I be charged with a crime if boys are expected to be sexually pro-active? How are boys to know anything sexual if no one teaches them? Can a woman be charged with sexual felonies?

Answer :

YES. Women can be charged with "sexual felonies". The same laws that protect under-aged girls are also applied to protect under-aged males. Merely because you are charged does not necessarily mean that you will be convicted. YOU ARE ENTITLED TO PUT UP A STRONG AND VIGOROUS DEFENSE IN THE SAME FASHION THAT MEN ACCUSED OF BREAKING THE LAW SEXUALLY WITH UNDERAGED GIRLS ARE ENTITLED TO PUT FORTH A MEANINGFUL AND VIGOROUS DEFENSE.

Question:

About four of us, at a party, had sex with a woman who participated freely. She may not have been a rocket scientist but she also wasn’t that dumb. I guess she knew what she was doing even though she was drunk out of her mind. The three other guys have been deported or left the country voluntarily. I am the only person who has been charged with rape. Can the prosecutor bring charges against only me and not the other guys?

Answer :

YES. Like other rape cases (or similar types of charges), the prosecutor must establish every element of the crime to a particular level of certainty. You are entitled to put forth your defense. Possibly in the pre-trial motions, more facts will come to light. Answers to questions such as this one depends on knowing all the facts and circumstances. Don’t sit around worrying about the other men appearing to be off the hook. Spend all of your time working with your attorney on your defense.

Question:

I am being charged with sexual crimes involving an under-aged girl. The indictment papers say things happened on a single occasion and gave an exact date. On the entire day in question, I was with a buddy who was later shipped out to Iraq. He can provide me with a complete alibi. If I hire Attorney Gaba, can she find his guy and get his statement?

Answer :

Are you able to provide your friend’s complete name and the military branch he is in? If his name is Bill Smith, things will be difficult. The rules of criminal procedure do provide for perpetuation of testimony of a far, distant and otherwise unavailable witness. It will take much work. There is no guarantee. However if his testimony will have a significant influence in the case, Attorney Gaba will use all necessary energy.

Question:

There are quite a few guys on my bowling team who owe back child support. We are all about the same age and work for the same company. Half of the guys are left alone by their ex-spouses. Two guys have contempt charges against them. I am the only guy who has felony charges filed because of the non-payment of child support. If we are all identical, why am I being picked on?

Answer :

You are not being picked on. You are not all identical. Ask your buddies how much they owe and how long they have not been paying. There is a specific felony non-support statute in the Ohio law books. Men, and sometimes women, are charged with this felony all of the time. People convicted of this felony offense can and do go to a prison, not just a jail. Don’t sit around and grumble. Hire an attorney and start working on your defense now.

Question:

I sat on my front porch and watched my teenage neighbor dude who lives next door to me as he burglarized the home of the old fellow who lived across the street. About twenty minutes after he (my teenage neighbor) entered the house, there were gun shots and he (my teenage neighbor) came running out of the house. He ran across the street, into my house, into my basement and hid behind my furnace. The police came and I showed them where the teenaged guy was hiding. The old man across the street died of gun-shot wounds. I am now charged with being an accomplice to murder. Has Trial Attorney Gaba actually worked on a case where someone died?

Answer :

YES. Actually she has defended cases where two or more persons (victims) died!

Question:

On the internet, I wrote to a girl who said she was 21 years old that my penis was like an extended garden hose. We wrote a bunch of other stuff to one another. She turned out to be 12 years of age. Her father contacted the police. Will the “written word” get me in trouble and send me to prison?

Answer :

Your question is not providing me with enough details. I may need to sit down and go over what the phrase “a bunch of other stuff” means. Will the written word alone get you into trouble? Yes, it already has. Will it get you convicted . . . . not necessarily. The first amendment to the U.S. Constitution includes freedom of expression. If your case goes to court the outcome will depend on the correct interpretation and application of the first amendment.

Question:

I met a girl on the internet. She said that she was 11 years old and had her mom’s permission to write. I asked her about her hobbies. Instead of answering, she told me she had cute breasts, that they were small but growing nicely. I asked her how tall she was. She told me that she had begun to grow pubic hair. I asked if she participated in after school clubs. She said that all of her girlfriends and even her (girl) cousins were doing adult physical stuff with boys. She said that if I came over to her house on a Sunday morning when her mom was in church, she would come to the door stark naked. I said I didn’t want to get myself in trouble. She threatened that if I didn’t show up on a particular day (she gave me an exact day of the week and time of day), she would be so disappointed that she would set the hair on her head on fire with a cigarette lighter. I showed up to save her from herself. When I got to the door, I was met by a police officer who hand-cuffed me and arrested me. I ne ver suggested anything. The girl tricked me into doing things that I had never planned to do. Does the law of internet entrapment still apply. Is “legal entrapment” as old and useless as a Studebaker automobile?

Answer :

Entrapment as a defense to the charge of internet sexual enticement may be an effective and workable one. It does have a strict definition and application. Creating a defense for those caught in police- generated scams takes hard work. Further, it would take a lot of time, creativity and a correct application of a complex set of rules. It can be done. It is not easy though. The attorney that you work with will need every bit of writing during the entire internet relationship. Being a defense attorney is never easy, but the rewards in successfully defending a wrongly accused internet writer are priceless.

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