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- the individual doesn't matter to the system one iota. Do not stop reading. I know this sounds terribly biased and cynical. The hard and very sad truth - a truth you MUST accept if you are to have even the slightest chance of a positive outcome - is that you - YOU must prove your innocence. This is an "anti-lesson" begrudgingly and reluctantly learned from hard experience. I can tell you personally that the process - from law enforcement personnel, to the station staff and (you have to see this to believe this) the guffawing, donut-eating fellow officers, to the "processing" staff and bondsman - your rights do not matter. The facts at that point do not matter. The one and only chance you may have to argue your case is with the officer at the scene BEFORE any arrest. Obviously this advise and situation does not apply to the real criminal who is out there hurting soceity. I'm talking to the guy who really is innocent. You're treated like dirt - be it from the guy at the courthouse metal detector, to the staff in the probation and cashiers' offices, right through to the D.A. and his/her office, as well as the courtroom personnel - all the way through to the person sitting on the bench,

This lesson is of SUCH importance that, effective writing and article development be damned, I repeat it once more - YOU DO NOT MATTER. I mean - of course you matter in most aspects of your daily life, and this sentiment is pure venting in most aspects of our lives. BUT IT IS THE DEAD STRAIGHT-ON TRUTH if you're caught up in the legal system. You, the individual, are NOT important.

Whether you obtain legal counsel is a decision I am not about to preach to the affirmative or the negative in an article targetted to an audience I will most likely never meet. Lawyers are expensive. They are *expensive*! Unless you are designated as "indigent" - basically you need to be bringing home less than $300 a week of you're a single male, in Massachusetts, anyway -you're not going to secure the services of any member of the bar for less than low to mid four figures.

But, the decision, the plusses and minuses of going it alone versus hiring a lawyer, need to be negotiated long and hard. Sometimes you do not get that chance. If you're already in the process, you already know that time is of the essence. If the charges are at all serious - get a lawyer and worry about money later. If they are less so - and that surely describes most traffic offences outside of DUI, vehicular manslaughter, or leaving

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