US Supreme Court on plea bargains

The Reuters News Service reports new standards for plea bargains, and EVERYONE involved in the criminal justice system should know of them. Read the article here

The scariest part of the article is that "The Justice Department reported that 97 percent of federal convictions and 94 percent of state convictions in 2009 were the result of a guilty plea."

Think about what this means. in 2009, 94 out of 100 people who were convicted of state crimes made a deal. In that deal they pled Guilty. The case was settled in a negotiated plea. Some of those undoubtedly started with a jury trial and a deal was struck before the jury came back with its verdict. Others never went to trial.

The State (the prosecutor; here in Illinois, the State's Attorney's office) struck a deal with the defendant's attorney. The deal was accepted, and the defendant pled Guilty.

It's a roll of the dice. Heck, I chickened out myself and took a deal when I got a headlight ticket several years ago. I thought about fighting it. The risk was $150 in court costs. Could I have gotten a Not Guilty in a bench or jury trial? Yes, the headlight was out. Yes, the ticket was at 6:00PM on a dark winter night, right in front of my residence. Yes, I was on a public street with a burned-out headlight. The cop was going to give me a warning, until a second cop showed up and reminded him of an order at the police station that, if I got stopped for anything, I was to get a ticket, not a warning.

Would the judge or a jury have decided in my favor? And this was just for a headlight ticket, so I paid the $100 and avoided the risk of another $150. The "offer" was to cough up the $100 and pay it in advance or go to court over it.

Now, consider the plight of a person facing felony charges (or even misdemeanor charges). Do you take a deal? What if you know you didn't do it? People are convicted every day, because the prosecution does a better sales job on the judge (or jury) than the defense.

But a felony conviction can mean prison and a lot of years behind bars, if the judge gets up on the wrong side of the bed on sentencing day. And sometimes the judge doesn't have a choice. He might be stuck with minimum sentencing requirements, after a jury convicts.

How does a defendant know if she (or he) is getting a fair offer from the prosecution or if her own attorney is counseling her adequately on the offer? Should an accused go with a public defender or do whatever it takes to round up the huge amount of money for a private attorney? Is there any guarantee of better representation by a private attorney?

Many people do not understand the quality and dedication of a public defender. The attorney is a public defender's office has chosen that employment for a reason. Every person charged with a crime is entitled to be defended. If you are represented by a public defender, talk with your attorney about his or her dedication. Determine if you can be confident in the representation provided to you.

And, if you decide to look for a private attorney, find one who is totally independent and 100% clear to represent you only. If an attorney has any ties to anyone even remotely connected to your case, pick someone else. Don't go with any low-ball fee offer or pro bono offer without first being 100% certain there is no potential conflict-of-interest.

Just as you must be completely honest with your attorney in answering questions in the privacy of the attorney's office, you must be able to be certain that your attorney is being honest with you.

Remember the car salesman who was selling the shiny, looks-like-new, low-mileage car that was driven only on Sundays? What he didn't say was that it was driven at the Sunday stock car races!

For a good novel that pretty well explains how the "system" works, you might want to spend $2.99 and buy the Kindle version of A Dark Obsession Times 2", by John L. Work.