My penpal, who is currently incarcerated for 2 counts of robbery in a Nevada prison says that one of his crimes he did not commit and the other was misrepresented, and that his public defender did not sufficiently research the case.

He is hoping to start a nonprofit website to save up money for a lawyer who will help him.
Of course, the other possibility is finding a good and sympathetic lawyer who will help for less money.

Does anyone have information on how to do one or both of these things?

Being honest i think your best bet is finding help through a law firm or organization specific for cases such as your pals in his state. I couldn't imagine too many people would be willing to donate/ send monies to a man in prison when his case is just one of many and lets face it people do not part with their dollars easily and specifically many do not trust prisoners in the first instance. Even i would not send funds in all honesty and i am a born giver.

My advice, do a little research as to what help is available in his state. More than likely he should have some info if he has been inside long enough, they usually do know who does what in their state after sharing in conversations with other prisoners and reading the papers, etc. Sometimes i think we need to put our money where our mouth is too. Although i know many disagree with me on that one.

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If you are compassionate in your approach to all tasks in life, believing that all "problems" contain valuable lessons, you will find peace of mind.
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Smiley is right your best bet is to find legal help that is experienced in post conviction litigation and law . It is a very complex area of law that requires a high degree of skill , effort and knowledge of that states court system as well as the federal system .

Prison/ jail house writ writers often have spent as many hours studying law as a attorney some are more knowledgeable believe it or not .


Setting up a website is probably not going to help it could hurt if it offends the wrong people .

It is one thing to use a site such as this to seek legal help another to have a website devoted to a prisoner . You can thank the Death Row and high profile gruopies for that in a big way .

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Why don't you try with opening a FB group? Maybe someone can help there, plus it is for free...

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Light travels faster than sound. That's why people look intelligent until they open their mouth.

What you are proposing is not a NFP. If people are asked to "donate" to fund the fees for an attorney, that is for-profit. Period.

You will need an account set up specifically for the defense fund and you will have to account for every cent that comes out of it, though you can use it for anything related to the case even postage when needed. From what I was once told, I would expect that you could contact your local bank and they would be able to explain the type of account that you would need.

As for the attorney without your friend is accused of ax-murder that involved little children or some other absolutely brutal crime I would put up the site. A lot of seeing the truth come out depends on nothing but pure luck. Not only could it gain $ for defense, but you truly never know, the guy might remind one attorney that stumbles across it of their long lost boy. Sometimes we do get that lucky, like those who win the lottery.

My husband is accused of brutality, but the one thing I know for certain is that nothing will come of his staying hidden in the dark.

Realistically, the best way to go to find counsel is to put together a letter that details the case. Most people say short, but the one I used was twelve pages and it was read by very busy and prestigious people all the way through. I expect that the same rule applies that my college instructors held me to, if its longer than it is supposed to be - it better be good.

To make it good you have to know the evidence well. You have to review the paperwork for mistake and discrepancy, error in the investigation, error at trial, etc. Make sure that if you say it, the facts support it. There is likely an inmate lawyer who could help if your friend needs it, possibly even put together the correspondence, Some of these guys are really good at what they do. Some of them, I'd trust before the guys with the law degrees in the free world.

E-mail and mail the letter to attorneys. Criminal attorneys can all do appellate work. Some are just far better than others. There are quite a few justice projects by this point and they do not have to be in Nevada, many take cases anywhere there is a need. Write them all and do not weed out any lawyer unless you know that they are just bad attorneys. Smaller lawyers are less likely to accept an appellate case, because the cost is outrageous, but then again some of them may have a referral to offer.

Ask them all and they can be out of state as long as they are in good standing with the courts to ask to work out of their normal jurisdiction. Those in the same circuit should have no trouble at all.

Start mailing and just do not give up. If the guy is innocent and there is evidence to indicate that he is, you will find someone willing to help just expect it to take a while.

Good luck...
Kricket