You are facing charges for a crime you didn’t commit. You hired a great attorney who promised to fight for you all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary. (Of course, you forgot to ask him or her how many cases of the type you are facing the attorney has tried and won, but that’s a post for another day.) You paid a lot of money. However, right after your check cleared, the following occurred:
- You cannot reach your attorney as your attorney ignores all attempts to communicate with you (doesn’t return your calls. Doesn’t visit you in jail).
- The attorney also ignores all of your family’s communication attempts.
- When your attorney finally communicates with you (or your family), all your attorney wants to discuss is the terrible settlement offer the prosecution has put on the table.
The sad truth is that you have hired a “dump truck” (a somewhat unflattering term for a lawyer who takes a client’s money and then pressures the client to take the first plea deal the prosecution offers. Putting it another way, the attorney is ineffective due to some combination of ignorance and poor work ethic).
THE PROSECUTION’S PLEA DEAL GAME
In a criminal case, the prosecution seemingly holds all the cards. In California, the conviction rate is just under 80% for defendants with no priors, just over 90% for those with priors, and greater than 99% for sex crimes. The prosecution has abundant resources to employ top investigators and experts. The prosecution usually holds all of the key evidence, including evidence of innocence (which they are obligated to turn over to the defense but, in many instances, do not).
With this in mind, the prosecution offers the defendant a terrible plea bargain through counsel with the warning, “This is the best offer your client will ever get” and “If you don’t take it, we’re going to add additional charges so that your client will be facing even more jail or prison time.”
“DUMP TRUCK” DEFENSE COUNSEL’S GAME
The “Dump Truck” defense attorney has now been co-opted by the prosecution. This is because the prosecution and defense attorney’s interests are now aligned. The prosecution wants an easy conviction, and your attorney, having pocketed your money, wants to be done with the case as soon as possible.
Thus, your current attorney is only too happy to pass along the prosecution’s ultimatum. The problem is that the ultimatum is false.
THE PROSECUTION’S FALSE ULTIMATUM PLEA OFFER
The fact is that the first plea offer is rarely the best. This is because the defense attorney:
- Has not completed (in most cases, has not even started) the defense investigation; and
- Has not developed a plan to win (the theory or strategy – usually because they have no idea what one looks like).
Therefore, the prosecution believes it has a slam dunk conviction because the defense has done absolutely nothing to show the prosecution that this is far from true.
PLEA NEGOTIATIONS ARE NOT BAD, SO LONG AS THEY ARE DONE FROM A POSITION OF STRENGTH
Only one thing can save a criminal defendant: Preparation! Preparation! Preparation!
This means:
- A Complete Investigation (not only witness interviews but also social media, court, medical, school, and psychological records) to determine if the credibility of the accuser or any prosecution witness has been compromised by:
- Drug use.
- Mental problems.
- Previous false accusations.
- Criminal history.
- A Winning Strategy. A winning strategy goes far beyond merely exploiting inconsistencies in testimony. A winning theory of the case requires understanding the motivation to accuse falsely. For example:
- Conflict with the accused
- Legal (custody/divorce, etc.)
- Romantic
- Feelings of abandonment.
- Financial Motivation.
- Suggestibility/Parental Alienation
- Groupthink/Group Hysteria
Only the presentation of evidence from a full investigation, coupled with a winning theory of the case, will cause the prosecution to begin to doubt the supposed ironclad nature of its case against the accused. Only then will the best plea bargain be offered.
More importantly, if a plea agreement cannot be reached, the case can now be tried with the best chance of prevailing.
TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE
Criminal prosecutions move forward with the momentum of a freight train and (generally) nothing, short of a plea or a trial, can stop it.
If you have hired a dump truck, now is the time to acknowledge your mistake and get your case into the hands of a competent legal team that will do the necessary work to give you the best chance to get your life back.
The Innocence Legal Team is here for you. Please use the below link so that we can get started helping you without delay.