Poor communication. Withheld defense evidence from the prosecution.
I hired Richard Zaleski to represent me as my defense attorney. Initially Mr. Zaleski was punctual and eager to defend me. After arraignment I felt that a critical window had been missed prior to State Attorney charges being brought but I trusted his expertise. The State did charge me with a lessor ...offense and sent us the list of witnesses plus a reciprocal request for evidence. For the next six months Mr. Zaleski requested continuances of the court and seldom responded to my emails or voice calls. He scheduled strategy meetings with me then broke the appointments multiple times without rescheduling. By this time, he was paid in full and had finally filed a motion for a Stand Your Ground Hearing. After little or no further responses to my emails or calls I hired another attorney. Shortly thereafter the State motioned the court to compel the defense to send them evidence. It turned out that Mr. Zaleski had never sent the State Attorney’s office the video evidence that might have stopped my prosecution months ago. The State dropped the case soon after my evidence was sent by my new attorney.