sunnydays1224
Oct 3, 2009, 01:19 AM
It is and has been my understanding that a p.o. nor a judge can order you to come off ANY kind of medication as long as it is legally prescribed. In 2005 I served 86 days in a county jail and was placed on probation for nine (9) months. As part of my probation conditions I was to be assessed for drugs and alcohol. This, in the first place, is a trick because ANYONE and EVERYONE who had to be "assessed" for drugs and alcohol AUTOMATICALLY would be told/ordered to attend SA counseling.
At the time I was being treated by a pain management doctor for my back problems and was being Rx'd legal narcotic pain medication (Lortab a/k/a Hydrocodone 7.5/500 (quantity 120 per month) as well as Soma 350mg (90 per month). I would report once a month to probation and about every other month I had to be tested for drugs. Of course, every time I tested positive for opiates (Lortab/Hydrocodone). But each month I would also bring in the pamphlet from the drug store showing that it was a new Rx for that month. After approximately six (6) months of being on probation and not being able to find a SA program that would accept me because I was taking legal narcotics, my probation officer had no choice but to violate me because the SA counseling was a condition that was court ordered.
An acquaintance of mine and my husband, who is an attorney (something like environmental law or something different ~ but definitely NOT a criminal attorney) had told my husband and I, "If you ever need anything ~ any assistance with anything, just let me know and if I can help out, I'll be more than glad to do so." Not knowing at the time when he made this offer that I was going to have to take him up on it!
I had called my doctors office (a pain management doctor) and asked him for my medical records. I didn't tell the receptionist why I needed them, but that I needed them and either they could provide me with the medical records or they could deal with my attorney. Needless to say, they provided them to me ~ free of charge.
When I reported to probation the next month, after being drug screened (which also cost me $15 in addition to my monthly supervision fee of $34 ~ damn! They get you any way possible! Anyway, she told me that she had "no choice but to violate" me. As I stated, it was "court-ordered".
The following month I had a court date. I had my medical records. My attorney acquaintance met my husband and I at the courthouse and I then gave him my medical records. He didn't need them for review ~ I just wanted my medical records JUST IN CASE them so that he could see with his own eyes that yes indeed, I do have legitimate back problems and live in chronic pain.
They called my name on the probation revocation and we went before the Judge. My attorney basically just told the Judge that I have back problems and currently under a doctors care and that due to the medications I was taking, that I could not get into any SA program. This is what the Judge said... "Mrs.-----, I cannot tell you that you that you have to have back surgery, nor can I tell you that you cannot take the prescribed medication for your back, as long as the prescriptions are legal. If the prescriptions are not legal, then we have a problem, however, as long as they are legal I cannot tell you that you have to come off of them." Then he told me that he was going to close out my case and drop the remaining few months of my probation.
Now I am facing another situation. I got in trouble in 2006, went to court in the summer of 2007. I had two weeks to turn myself in to the jail to serve 4 1/2 months in the county jail and then I had 10 days once released from jail, to enter a six-month residential program. I ended up having surgery the day before I was to turn myself into the jail to begin my sentence. I had my doctor and the hospital to fax over proof that I was in the hospital and that I had surgery. No problem. I just had to keep the court informed of the going ons of my situation. Well, I admit that I did get slack. I wanted to turn myself in by a certain date so I would be home for Christmas before having to enter the program. I healed from the surgery and after my stomach healed, I started getting sick again (throwing up blood). I had to have another test done some time after my surgery to see what was going on with my ulcer situation. I had the test done the day after Christmas 2007. And yes, I did spend Christmas with my family ~ and grandfather. And yes, it was his last Christmas.
Like I stated, I did get slack and also got highly pissed off because my public defender did not call me and I was calling him every day for two weeks. Come to find out, he was out of town for a couple of weeks and when he returned, he was leaving the public defenders office to go to work for a very reputable law firm. But I didn't find this out until quite some time later.
Long story short I was going to turn myself in to the jail on or around May or June the 1st. I was still sick with the second ulcer they found and the doctor wanted to do yet another test in another three months. Well, on April the 2nd at 3:45am the county came to pick me up on a probation warrant (come to find out, they were doing a probation warrant sweep and ended up getting 125 people that night. It was on the news and in the paper two days later!)
I went before the Judge on May the 9th and she was not very nice. She also remembered sentencing my jack ex-husband several times (which I also think influenced her decision as far as my sentence). She ended up revoking one year of my probation and imposed the original conditions. Well, I THOUGHT I was going to be doing county time. I learned on June 6th that I was "state property" which highly upset me. Had I known that I was going to do state time (prison) I wouldn't have accepted the one year with the original conditions imposed (meaning the six-month residential program).
I went to prison months later and was finally released on parole on January 28th of this year (2009). I had a little job lined up when I came home ~ just enough to meet the parole conditions. I was ready to pack my things and within 10 days enter the program, however, due to the screwed up laws, parole overrides probation so I was told by my parole officer, "Absolutely do NOT enter the residential program until you are off of parole and on probation!" Okay, so this is absolutely stupid! Once off parole and on probation ~ IP (intensive probation) at that ~ I had to also complete 96 hours of community service (another law that changed after I was sentenced on my revocation). Well, while in the county jail my hip began to bother me. Then I went to prison and had a top bunk, which obviously didn't help my hip or my back problems. I was told that they wouldn't do anything about my hip and back because I was a "short timer". (? ) Also, while I was in the county jail, I was receiving only two of the three prescriptions after fighting with the medical department for weeks. They did NOT want to supply me with the medication due to the cost. I was taking 10 pills per day for my ulcer disease. The jail cut out one of the medicines and dropped the others in half. So I was only taking three pills versus 10 pills. Then, once I entered the state system, I was told that they absolutely would not, under any circumstance, provide me with the ulcer medications that I had been taking since January 2007, even though I had prescriptions for it with eight refills. I asked them if they could run it through my insurance since it was so costly. "Absolutely not! We don't do that here!"
Funny, as I said, I came home on January 28, 1009 and on April 7, 2009, after two and a half months of getting sick almost daily and having to leave my little job that I had, I ended up in the hospital. Guess what they found? Yep, another ulcer! I don't know if it was due to not having my ulcer medicines from August 25th, 2008 but it certainly seems ironic to me.
Now, I STILL have this six-month residential program hanging over my head. I am currently under a doctors care for pain management and am being prescribed narcotic pain medication (a Schedule II drug). I have to see him once a month because with this narcotic, the doctor is not allowed to provide refills due to the class/schedule of the drug. So obviously I cannot enter the six-month residential program because the program is a non-narcotic program and will not allow me into the program.
So now, my question is... can a Judge and/or the court MAKE me come off my medications so that I can do the program? Or can I fight it by doing a sentence modification ~ because I KNOW that the Judge is going to want me to do SOMETHING in lieu of the residential program?
I have talked in depth to my probation officer. She comes by my house about once a week for a "curfew check". When she came by this past week, I told her that I was going to get a letter from my GI doctor stating that I cannot take NSAIDS or aspirin due to having PUD (peptic ulcer disease) and that I am also going to get a letter from the pain management doctor briefly describing what he is treating me for and with what he is treating me (narcotics). It is my understanding the since I am legally prescribed the narcotics that the Judge absolutely cannot force me to enter the program. The program is court-ordered, so I will have to go back before the Judge. What is the best way to do this? Is a sentence modification my best bet? I will not be going before the Judge who sentenced me because she retired at the end of 2008.
Please advise. I need to move on this pretty quickly. When my probation officer came by the other day, I told her that I know that the Judge is going to want me to do SOMETHING in lieu of the program. I was thinking of maybe asking for another six months of IP and/or community service. When I told this to my probation officer, she said, "Hell no! Do not ask for more IP! You need to see about getting into an out-patient program." However, I will run into the same scenario as I was in in 2005.
Sorry this is so long. Can anyone provide me with some advice? And also, are there attorney's that will do pro bono work? We really do not have the money to hire an attorney and I absolutely will NOT go before the Judge without an attorney!!
Thanks in advance for any and all responses. I look forward to hearing your responses!
At the time I was being treated by a pain management doctor for my back problems and was being Rx'd legal narcotic pain medication (Lortab a/k/a Hydrocodone 7.5/500 (quantity 120 per month) as well as Soma 350mg (90 per month). I would report once a month to probation and about every other month I had to be tested for drugs. Of course, every time I tested positive for opiates (Lortab/Hydrocodone). But each month I would also bring in the pamphlet from the drug store showing that it was a new Rx for that month. After approximately six (6) months of being on probation and not being able to find a SA program that would accept me because I was taking legal narcotics, my probation officer had no choice but to violate me because the SA counseling was a condition that was court ordered.
An acquaintance of mine and my husband, who is an attorney (something like environmental law or something different ~ but definitely NOT a criminal attorney) had told my husband and I, "If you ever need anything ~ any assistance with anything, just let me know and if I can help out, I'll be more than glad to do so." Not knowing at the time when he made this offer that I was going to have to take him up on it!
I had called my doctors office (a pain management doctor) and asked him for my medical records. I didn't tell the receptionist why I needed them, but that I needed them and either they could provide me with the medical records or they could deal with my attorney. Needless to say, they provided them to me ~ free of charge.
When I reported to probation the next month, after being drug screened (which also cost me $15 in addition to my monthly supervision fee of $34 ~ damn! They get you any way possible! Anyway, she told me that she had "no choice but to violate" me. As I stated, it was "court-ordered".
The following month I had a court date. I had my medical records. My attorney acquaintance met my husband and I at the courthouse and I then gave him my medical records. He didn't need them for review ~ I just wanted my medical records JUST IN CASE them so that he could see with his own eyes that yes indeed, I do have legitimate back problems and live in chronic pain.
They called my name on the probation revocation and we went before the Judge. My attorney basically just told the Judge that I have back problems and currently under a doctors care and that due to the medications I was taking, that I could not get into any SA program. This is what the Judge said... "Mrs.-----, I cannot tell you that you that you have to have back surgery, nor can I tell you that you cannot take the prescribed medication for your back, as long as the prescriptions are legal. If the prescriptions are not legal, then we have a problem, however, as long as they are legal I cannot tell you that you have to come off of them." Then he told me that he was going to close out my case and drop the remaining few months of my probation.
Now I am facing another situation. I got in trouble in 2006, went to court in the summer of 2007. I had two weeks to turn myself in to the jail to serve 4 1/2 months in the county jail and then I had 10 days once released from jail, to enter a six-month residential program. I ended up having surgery the day before I was to turn myself into the jail to begin my sentence. I had my doctor and the hospital to fax over proof that I was in the hospital and that I had surgery. No problem. I just had to keep the court informed of the going ons of my situation. Well, I admit that I did get slack. I wanted to turn myself in by a certain date so I would be home for Christmas before having to enter the program. I healed from the surgery and after my stomach healed, I started getting sick again (throwing up blood). I had to have another test done some time after my surgery to see what was going on with my ulcer situation. I had the test done the day after Christmas 2007. And yes, I did spend Christmas with my family ~ and grandfather. And yes, it was his last Christmas.
Like I stated, I did get slack and also got highly pissed off because my public defender did not call me and I was calling him every day for two weeks. Come to find out, he was out of town for a couple of weeks and when he returned, he was leaving the public defenders office to go to work for a very reputable law firm. But I didn't find this out until quite some time later.
Long story short I was going to turn myself in to the jail on or around May or June the 1st. I was still sick with the second ulcer they found and the doctor wanted to do yet another test in another three months. Well, on April the 2nd at 3:45am the county came to pick me up on a probation warrant (come to find out, they were doing a probation warrant sweep and ended up getting 125 people that night. It was on the news and in the paper two days later!)
I went before the Judge on May the 9th and she was not very nice. She also remembered sentencing my jack ex-husband several times (which I also think influenced her decision as far as my sentence). She ended up revoking one year of my probation and imposed the original conditions. Well, I THOUGHT I was going to be doing county time. I learned on June 6th that I was "state property" which highly upset me. Had I known that I was going to do state time (prison) I wouldn't have accepted the one year with the original conditions imposed (meaning the six-month residential program).
I went to prison months later and was finally released on parole on January 28th of this year (2009). I had a little job lined up when I came home ~ just enough to meet the parole conditions. I was ready to pack my things and within 10 days enter the program, however, due to the screwed up laws, parole overrides probation so I was told by my parole officer, "Absolutely do NOT enter the residential program until you are off of parole and on probation!" Okay, so this is absolutely stupid! Once off parole and on probation ~ IP (intensive probation) at that ~ I had to also complete 96 hours of community service (another law that changed after I was sentenced on my revocation). Well, while in the county jail my hip began to bother me. Then I went to prison and had a top bunk, which obviously didn't help my hip or my back problems. I was told that they wouldn't do anything about my hip and back because I was a "short timer". (? ) Also, while I was in the county jail, I was receiving only two of the three prescriptions after fighting with the medical department for weeks. They did NOT want to supply me with the medication due to the cost. I was taking 10 pills per day for my ulcer disease. The jail cut out one of the medicines and dropped the others in half. So I was only taking three pills versus 10 pills. Then, once I entered the state system, I was told that they absolutely would not, under any circumstance, provide me with the ulcer medications that I had been taking since January 2007, even though I had prescriptions for it with eight refills. I asked them if they could run it through my insurance since it was so costly. "Absolutely not! We don't do that here!"
Funny, as I said, I came home on January 28, 1009 and on April 7, 2009, after two and a half months of getting sick almost daily and having to leave my little job that I had, I ended up in the hospital. Guess what they found? Yep, another ulcer! I don't know if it was due to not having my ulcer medicines from August 25th, 2008 but it certainly seems ironic to me.
Now, I STILL have this six-month residential program hanging over my head. I am currently under a doctors care for pain management and am being prescribed narcotic pain medication (a Schedule II drug). I have to see him once a month because with this narcotic, the doctor is not allowed to provide refills due to the class/schedule of the drug. So obviously I cannot enter the six-month residential program because the program is a non-narcotic program and will not allow me into the program.
So now, my question is... can a Judge and/or the court MAKE me come off my medications so that I can do the program? Or can I fight it by doing a sentence modification ~ because I KNOW that the Judge is going to want me to do SOMETHING in lieu of the residential program?
I have talked in depth to my probation officer. She comes by my house about once a week for a "curfew check". When she came by this past week, I told her that I was going to get a letter from my GI doctor stating that I cannot take NSAIDS or aspirin due to having PUD (peptic ulcer disease) and that I am also going to get a letter from the pain management doctor briefly describing what he is treating me for and with what he is treating me (narcotics). It is my understanding the since I am legally prescribed the narcotics that the Judge absolutely cannot force me to enter the program. The program is court-ordered, so I will have to go back before the Judge. What is the best way to do this? Is a sentence modification my best bet? I will not be going before the Judge who sentenced me because she retired at the end of 2008.
Please advise. I need to move on this pretty quickly. When my probation officer came by the other day, I told her that I know that the Judge is going to want me to do SOMETHING in lieu of the program. I was thinking of maybe asking for another six months of IP and/or community service. When I told this to my probation officer, she said, "Hell no! Do not ask for more IP! You need to see about getting into an out-patient program." However, I will run into the same scenario as I was in in 2005.
Sorry this is so long. Can anyone provide me with some advice? And also, are there attorney's that will do pro bono work? We really do not have the money to hire an attorney and I absolutely will NOT go before the Judge without an attorney!!
Thanks in advance for any and all responses. I look forward to hearing your responses!