Can child support be used in a criminal case for a plea offer if it has nothing to do w/ criminal case?
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Can child support be used in a criminal case for a plea offer if it has nothing to do w/ criminal case?
My husband has been charged w/ a felony case. His daughter accused him of fondling her. Now, they want him to offer a plea deal of paying up his child support (which is a chancery matter and has nothing to do w/his criminal case) and being deported. From what I understand you cannot mix a criminal case w/ a chancery case and our lawyer refuses to fight the money thing, so what do we do?
Asked on May 11, 2009 under Criminal Law, Mississippi
Answers:
B. B., Member, New Jersey Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 15 years ago | Contributor
Your husband owes the back child support, and even though I'm not a Mississippi lawyer, I know that there's a federal statute that more or less forced every state to enact a law that says back child support can't be reduced (or the state loses federal funding for certain things, and we know that every state wants all the federal funding it can get). The lawyer won't fight "the money thing" because that fight can't be won. If the back child support is enough, your husband could be put in jail as a "deadbeat dad" until he pays that, entirely apart from the criminal charges.
Your lawyer knows a lot more about this case than I do. If he or she is recommending that your husband take this deal, you should either do it, or get a new lawyer or at least a second opinion before turning it down. Qualified defense counsel can be found in a number of places, including our website, http://attorneypages.com
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