Need an English Speaker Lawyer to represent me

Hi all, I hate to post here as it means things on this lovely island have turned to shit for me.

So long story short, I was caught shoplifting. I would like to maintain it was an accident (a very stupid accident), but none the less I was caught, taken to the police office, then to a processing office, then to a prosecutors office. I’m now out on what I assume is bail awaiting my court trial.

I gave 2 interviews at the police station and had Taiwanese people whom I TRUST very much read over it before I signed. Then 1 more at the prosecutors office where I had an assigned legal translator.

Now I’m wanting to hire a lawyer as I want to just pay a fine and settle out of court (if that is an option). The offence is so minor but I’m not willing to take a chance on being deported or even having to do jail time over such a STUPID error.

Anyone know of any good English speaking lawyers that aren’t so expensive as to bankrupt me? My countries embassy emailed me a list of English speaking lawyers which I suspect is the same list that the AIT have on their website. Anyone had any experiences with any of these lawyers? Anyone recommend anyone?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I know I fucked up, I’m not looking to be judged, just looking for help.

If you manage to pay the fine or go through whatever penalty they will apply before you have the chance of overstaying your visa, you probably won’t be deported. If the legal process forces you to overstay, though, you will probably be refused an ARC renovation and be banned for three years.

What the heck did you think, anyways? O_o Shoplifting in Taiwan!?!

The OP has said what he wants to say to about the issue, the rest is non of our business. Let’s just try and help him by answering his question.

[quote=“Novaspes”]If you manage to pay the fine or go through whatever penalty they will apply before you have the chance of overstaying your visa, you probably won’t be deported. If the legal process forces you to overstay, though, you will probably be refused an ARC renovation and be banned for three years.

What the heck did you think, anyways? O_o Shoplifting in Taiwan!?![/quote]

Yeah, it was an accident, when I checked out I only paid for four items forgetting the fifth.

I have another 3 months on my visa so hopefully it’ll all be resolved before then.

Thanks everyone! Still no names of lawyers? I’ll start making my way through that AIT list then :cry:

OP,

AIT (assuming you’re American) will give you a list of lawyers. Chances are good they are already aware of your case.

You need to be aware, the sneaky DA’s office will try to get you to plead to something called a ‘differed prosecution’.

With a ‘d.f.’ the fine will be low and they will give you community service. It will seem like you’ve done your time and got off easy.

Later, you will find out that a ‘differed prosecution’ is the cute little Taiwanese way of slowly kicking you out of the country.

Once you have a DP on your record, you will be denied a work permit (without exception), therefore no ARC. You will have to do a visa run. This is when you will find out that Title 13 which says the second you leave the ROC, you are banned for 3 years.

good luck, and tread carefully if you have intentions of staying in Taiwan.

I asked my students today and one who is a cop said it is mandatory criminal sentencing, you cannot pay your way out of it.

Then when you are sentenced it is deportion due to criminal record.

Im not a lawyer so double check with one who is, its just what i was told.

Thanks for the replies.

@dan2006, that is indeed not good news. I’ll speak to a lawyer and see what I can do. Yeah, it’s all getting very grim now reading up on the case histories that are lurking through this site.

@Maceck, differed prosecution, got it, will keep an ear out for it. I think part of me has accepted that I’ll have to leave Taiwan but no re-entry for 3 years will be tough and will be awkward for my career. I know you might not be able to answer this, but after being banned for 3 years would one be able to enter visa-exempt? Or would they just deny you at the gate?

forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopi … 1&start=30

This guys case is a little bit different, and unfortunately I look a lot more guilty than he did, but what ended up happening in his case is a pretty good result in my eyes. I’ve PM’d him asking for more details but no reply yet.

The ROC government really doesn’t want to put foreigners in jail. They have, from time to time, thrown the book at some whom they’ve had dead-to-rights on drug charges or manslaughter/murder, but they don’t want to deal with ‘imprisoned foreigners’ over petty theft.

The reason they shy away from jailing foreigners is because doing so looks very Chinese-E. Taiwan is always image conscious when it comes to international relations and they’re quite suave when it comes to punishing pasty big noses.

Lately, what they’ve been doing is allowing you to pay a fine, then a plane ticket OOT, most likely never to return.

In Taiwan, they hate thieves. It is true they don’t take theft lightly, but they know western countries view this crime with lighter tinted glasses. It’s actually an amazing luxury when viewed from the position of a local shoplifter.

Expect this to end with deportation/removal of visas.

good luck though. keep us updated.

Elaborate, please. :bow:

Did you find a lawyer?

any help from AIT? (or applicable foreign consulate)

Any offers from the prosecutor’s office?

Any update on this? Last note from the OP was a month ago …

Sorry for the late reply, I don’t work from an computer anymore and am not on this site too often.

Still tracking down a lawyer, got a few options available to me.

A good portion of the email address on the AIT list of lawyers are no longer valid (in case this information is useful to you). But a few lawyers have forwarded me the details of other lawyers closer to my area.

I attempted to settle out of court with the store but they said it was against their policy.

Still just waiting really, spoke to a pro bono lawyer who provides legal advice as a community service and he gave me a good insight into the legal system here (straight up said that even if you’re innocent in Taiwanese courts you best plead guilty otherwise they’ll just go harder on you and force a confession out of you…which is CRAZY messed up).

When all this is done and over ill post a more thorough reply that’ll hopefully contain useful information for people here.

Got back from the prosecutors office, I went to go see the pro bono lawyer again. And I spoke to a desk clerk there hoping to inquire about my case and he said that I wasn’t being prosecuted. I went home and on my table was a letter from immigration canceling be previous letter I got from them which stated I couldn’t leave the country.

I am now awaiting an official letter from the prosecutors office to say that all of this has gone away! Feeling very lucky and fortunate.

Now if anyone at all is still even reading this thread, I have one question;

I had tickets to travel to japan which I assumed I’d just not be able to use (with the whole, not being able to leave the country thing). They’re for next week. I don’t yet have the letter saying that all charges and what not have been dropped and that they have decided not to prosecute, but I do have a letter saying I can leave. Would I be able to go on this trip? I know I can exit, but I’m worried about reentry (which will be on visa free).

If you have any questions about anything that I’ve learnt about the legal system here let me know. My friends NAND I did an awful lot of research!

[quote=“Piste9”]…I went home and on my table was a letter from immigration canceling be previous letter I got from them which stated I couldn’t leave the country.

I am now awaiting an official letter from the prosecutors office to say that all of this has gone away! Feeling very lucky and fortunate. …[/quote]
What?! Wow - how did you pull that off?!

Congratulations, I guess.

I agree you should be extra careful about flying out now without any black-and-white paperwork to backup your status

[quote=“goose egg”][quote=“Piste9”]…I went home and on my table was a letter from immigration canceling be previous letter I got from them which stated I couldn’t leave the country.

I am now awaiting an official letter from the prosecutors office to say that all of this has gone away! Feeling very lucky and fortunate. …[/quote]
What?! Wow - how did you pull that off?!

Congratulations, I guess.

I agree you should be extra careful about flying out now without any black-and-white paperwork to backup your status[/quote]

Oh yeah, I thought I was a goner for sure. But my friend was saying that the court is trying to lower the amount of these kinds of cases as they cost a lot of money to little reward. Also, the store that accused me has lost in court multiple times over similar cases so maybe that worked in my favour. I have no idea what it was that gave me that verdict but I’m not questioning it and am just thankful that I got it.