I once had a family member who was constantly in and out of jail. The family always hired the same attorney to represent him. He used to tell me that this particular lawyer had all the judges in his backpocket and when you went to see him, he'd tell you that it would cost ##### to have the charges dropped and ##### to go to trial. The way this family member understood it, the lawyer could get them to drop the charges for a certain amount but if you didn't have enough money, you had to go to trial. That always struck me as incredibly corrupt. It wasn't until I became a lawyer that I figured out that my young family member had it all turned around. What was happening was that the lawyer was charging ### for a plea (which in my family friend's case generally meant time served and probation) and #### if the case went to trial - and in this particular case, would generally include some jail time.

Those are the kinds of ignorant rumors that make unsophisticated people believe that all it takes to walk is to have the right lawyer. The underlying facts, some are convinced, are immaterial.