More importantly, the Judge will remind all the participants that the final decision on a sentence is for the Court, and if it is higher, or lower, than the lawyers or the Defendant anticipated, that generally is not grounds for either side to back out of the guilty plea. In a federal criminal case, the Judge will also explain the sentencing process and a brief overview of the complex Sentencing Guidelines. The attorney usually needs to work with the client to assure that the Defendant fully admits to the crime, while not demonstrating such reluctance that the Judge will reject the plea altogether. Also, some Defendants are reluctant to plead guilty, and it is usually a poor idea to let the Judge know that. This is more tricky, for this is usually the first time that the Judge will hear from the Defendant directly, and first impressions are important. However, some Judges ask the Defendant what he or she did that makes them guilty of this particular crime. Normally, the Judge asks the prosecutor what he or she could prove if the case went to a trial. In other words, the court has to be assured that the Defendant is truly guilty. Third, during the colloquy, the Judge also must be satisfied that there is a “factual basis” for the plea. This is a standard set of statements, and questions, through which the Judge assures that the guilty plea is what the Supreme Court calls a “knowing, voluntary and intelligent” waiver of the client’s rights to have a trial. Next, the Judge engages in what we call the “plea colloquy”. Defendant, is that your signature on the plea agreement”, or something like that. One of the first things in some Districts is that the prosecutor has to “verify” the signatures: “Mr. At the guilty plea, the client, attorney and prosecutor all appear in front of a Judge. Second, the attorney needs to fully explain to the client how the guilty plea process takes place. And, even the most experienced lawyer sometimes fails to remember all of the boilerplate that is in a “standard” plea agreement, so it is always worthwhile to go over the document with the client line by line. Even the most sophisticated clients are often surprised about the verbiage that prosecutors insist on being placed into a plea agreement document. It is absolutely necessary that the attorney and client review this, together, and in detail. This all happens AFTER me and my client have gone at length through our options (trial versus plea) and after we have done all of our negotiating with the prosecutor.įirst, there is the plea agreement. ![]() Here are some common aspects of that process. Yesterday I was meeting with a client who will be pleading guilty in the near future. ![]() To the person who stumbled across this: I am a semi-regular blogger whose office is in Atlanta, and I discuss federal criminal cases, and the profession of being a lawyer who represents people and/or companies who are charged with crimes.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |