I'm in need of opinions, people, especially from attorneys. I need to find out if the following behavior of a public defender's office is considered unethical.
Backstory in 3...2...1...
In October 07, my son and I visited my Nanny. Neighbors' dogs chased and tried to bite my son. Neighbors weren't home, so I called the pound and asked them to come out. I specifically said I didn't want more than a verbal warning. (I'm a dog lover, and wouldn't want someone getting into real trouble.)
Around lunchtime the neighbor (I'll call him "John") showed up drunk. I went outside to attempt a reasonable conversation. The situation escalated as he hurled insults and threats. Then he pointed behind me at my son. who walked outside without my knowledge. He called my son a "retarded little fucker" (b/c he knew David has autism), said he'd kill him and his "cunt, crackhead mama", and threatened to burn his Nanny's place to the ground with her inside.
I called 911 and got a call back from an officer who said he couldn't come for at least an hour. He said he could handle the situation over the phone instead. "Handling" consisted of telling me to call 911 again if John showed up. I called my parents to pick up us up. They did, and as we were putting our luggage in the truck, John hopped in his truck and drove up to my father, effectively pinning him between John's vehicle and Dad's tailgate.
Dad told him to get his drunk ass home. He further told John he had something wrong with him to come after a kid like that. John hit Dad. Dad proceeded to knock two of John's teeth out. (Still pinned, he couldn't do much beside throw punches.)
John grabs Dad's shirt, and throws the truck into gear and drags him about 30 feet before Dad breaks free. John slams on his brakes and tries to back up and hit my parents. Dad pushed Mom out of the way and ran in the opposite direction.
Called 911 again and police showed up this time (yay). Because blows were exchanged, both Dad and John were taken in.
Now, this case would have gone to court already but for one little issue. From the first day in court, John showed up on braces, claiming he couldn't have done this because he couldn't walk or raise his arms over his head. Then, when that didn't convince the judge that we were lying, he claimed he had dementia. His public defender set up appointment with a psychologist, which John dodged for a full year. When he was finally forced to go, the psychologist found him in full control of his faculties.
Last time we went to court, the D.A. (wonderful fellow, BTW) told us John was asking for a non-jury trial, which would be held during the next 3 weeks.
We were served with subpoenas Tuesday which ordered us to be in Courtroom 3A before Judge ******, at 9:00 a.m. under penalty of blah-blah-blah. We've been summoned to court no less than eight times already, so we knew the drill. We got to the courthouse and we went in to see the D.A. first because we had a couple of pre-trial questions.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered there was no hearing. I showed him the subpoenas and he looked disturbed. He said he'd make a call because the public defenders' office had used official subpoenas to order us into a meeting with them for questioning.
WTF? Is this not at least unethical? For me, at a minimum, he's a smarmy POS with a desperate need for a refresher course in ethics. How fricking sorry can a lawyer be? (rhetorical question) I kept my son out of school and dragged him to the courthouse again, believing he'd been subpoenaed. Does a defense attorney have the right to used a formal subpoena under false pretense to lure us into a meeting we're not required to attend?
Inquiring minds, and all that jazz.