5 /5 Jesse Rafert: I am the alleged victim of a crime, but I do not believe that the charges reflect the events on the night that the defendant was arrested and feel uncomfortable with the fact that he is being prosecuted.
After several months of trying to convince the prosecution not to go forward with the charges, and of contacting the public defender’s office to no avail (in hopes of communicating with the defendant’s attorney and gaining some insight into how I might be able to share my version of events, which was not reflected in the police report), I had become quite desperate.
While financial reservations had initially dissuaded me from contacting a private defense attorney, I decided that I should, at the very least, look into the cost of a consultation.
I left a message on Stephen Hebert’s voicemail at the ungodly hour of four in the morning, expecting that I would wait several days before hearing back from an employee, if at all. But, to my great surprise, Attorney Hebert himself called me back within an hour and half. He did not take me through a lengthy intake process or require me to schedule an appointment, he simply asked if I would like to do a free phone consultation then and there.
I anxiously explained my story at some length, and he listened patiently and then spoke with me for almost 2 hours about various aspects of the case, and about the practical implications, and potential benefits and risks of submitting a sworn affidavit recounting my version of the events (I told him I had been considering doing this).
Given that he was not representing me, he was not in a position to tell me what I should do. But he answered all of my questions and familiarized me with a range of possible outcomes, drawing not only upon his legal knowledge but upon his practical knowledge of how things tend to work “on the ground” in Orleans Parish, where my case is being heard.
I left the call with a sense of peace and agency that I have not been able to achieve for months, simply by virtue of Attorney Hebert’s willingness to explain things to me in a way that I could understand. Although he did not represent me, his timely and generous handling of my questions and concerns speaks volumes to the kind of person he is, and to how he treats his clients. I highly recommend.
