Plea Bargain And Should You Go For It Or Not?

We all heard of the plea bargaining in criminal cases, but only a few people understand what such a bargain may mean. In essence, a plea bargain is somewhat of a compromise between the defendant’s legal representative and the prosecution, a case settlement of sorts. Successful plea bargains are quite beneficial, seeing how in many cases people who were charged with felonies were able to reduce the sentence to a misdemeanor.

If a person is charged with a felony, there is a much bigger chance that he or she is going to end up in county jail or even state prison. Plea bargaining can protect the defendant from the felony charges and help in reducing the sentence to a misdemeanor, which is a huge benefit, especially if the initial charges were harsh.

In some cases, the defendant’s legal representative is able to convince the prosecution to mitigate the charges. For example, if a person was initially charged with petty theft, a good attorney may be capable of convincing the prosecutor to lessen the charges to trespassing. Of course, legal penalties for trespassing are far less severe. Furthermore, the defendant will be able to avoid jail time and trespassing charges will not look as bad as petty theft in his or her criminal records, which is always an advantage that simply cannot be overestimated.

In addition, in certain cases, the attorney will be able to use plea bargaining in order to substitute jail time with community service, which is indeed a much more favorable option. Moreover, if the defendant was charged with DUI (driving under influence of alcohol or illegal substances), the lawyer may use plea bargaining to lessen the fines and to substitute alcohol awareness programs with alcohol anonymous meetings.

It is absolutely crucial for the lawyer to demonstrate to the judge and the prosecutor that the defendant is actually worthy of a second chance. A good and experience attorney will use the client’s personal records, witness reports and various testimonials to demonstrate that the defendant is not a bad person, even though his actions may say otherwise. After all, we are all humans and we all make mistakes.

Therefore, if you or your loved ones were charges with a crime and you would like to mitigate the sentence, follow the advice of a legal specialist on the subject of the plea bargaining. Do not make a decision on your own, since only a qualified as well as genuinely experienced criminal defense expert will be capable of deciding if the bargaining will be beneficial in your case. A good lawyer will provide you with legal recommendations you require. 

Take an advantage of having a former district attorney fighting in your defense now!