Ricky L. Mahler

When i was charged with a 2nd degree felony in Wichita County, I set forth with the task of retaining a criminal defense attorney. Due to my unfamiliarity in the county where i was charged, I didn't have a great deal of information to use as a guide for retaining the most competent attorney, or one ...that I could be somewhat confident would keep my best interests at heart and represent me to the best of their ability. Also, I thought that I would be kept updated on any proceedings, or information that pertained to my case, in a timely fashion. When I was in the process of searching for the most qualified, experienced attorney, with a successful record representing similar cases, I called and spoke with Mr. Mahler, and he was very charismatic, and convincing when selling himself and his ability to represent me in my case. After a short time, I retained Mr. Mahler as my criminal defense attorney and paid him in advance $5000.00 for his services. At this point, the communication from Mr. Mahler and his staff pretty much ceased. I not only was not contacted to provide updates with regards to my case and what course of action Mr. Mahler was considering to defend me, I couldn't even get a call back from Rick or any member or his staff when I had questions or concerns regarding various information I had received from other sources (ie. bondsman.) Then when I finally was able to confirm that I had basically been misled to believe that Rick had negotiated the conditions of my bond agreement with the Central Magistrate's office, and that I was totally in compliance with the conditions of my bond. But I continued to be scheduled for bond condition hearings every month, which I found odd. After the 4th hearing was set, I decided since I couldn't get a straight answer from my attorney or any member of his legal staff, I needed to seek out this information from any other source possible, to have clarification that I was in fact complying with the conditions of my bond. Considering I could have a warrant issued for my arrest if I wasn't complying with those conditions, I felt this to be very important, and cause for concern on my part. This is when I was informed after calling the Magistrate's office myself, that although my attorney had filed a Request to Modify the Conditions of my bond, the Judge had never signed the Request and had neither accepted nor declined the request. I was told that the Judge had shortly thereafter, taken a leave of absence for medical reasons, and was not available to speak with me. The lack of information given to me by my attorney that I paid to work in my best interests, could have quite possibly landed me in jail for bond violations, and caused my bonding agency to withdraw my bond for non compliance of conditions. I felt that this behavior was totally unethical, unprofessional, and counterproductive for me and my case. When I contacted Mr. Mahler's office after being notified by my bondsman that my case had been no-billed (dismissed,) to confirm that this information was accurate, I was told by Christy that I would be contacted by Rick ASAP. To this day (2 months after the dismissal of my charges,) I have yet to be notified by my attorney of this, and if I was entirely reliant on just the information provided by him and his staff, I would still be going to and having weekly Urinalysis performed at my own expense ($60 per test,) to comply with the conditions of my bond, for a case that is no longer even active, and for charges that have been dismissed "in the interest of justice." Rick Mahler never had to respond to an indictment, enter a plea, or negotiate an agreement with the District Attorney in my case. I was never indicted for the charges that were filed against me, and I feel at the very least for the $5000 that I paid for his representation, that I should have been notified of the dismissal of the charges, which would have alleviated a great deal of stress in my life.