Going From 3˝ Years in Prison to Probation
I was working with a client who was facing a very serious felony charge that carried a mandatory five (5) year presumptive term in prison. When he first came into my office he asked the obvious question: What can you do for me? This is the same question many prospective clients want answered. Moreover, it is an appropriate question.
I always answer this question the same way: “I don’t know.” This is the only truthful answer that an attorney can give on the first day of a case. I use the following analogy to explain why I give this answer. You go to the doctor and ask him "can you cure me"? The doctor will tell you: “I need to do some tests first.” The same it true for a criminal case. If an attorney tells you how your case will turn out on the first day, I advise that you run out of the office as fast as you can. Common sense tells you that such promises made on day one of a case are baseless.
I explained to the client how I would handle his case. I also communicated to him my experience and my strategy to fighting criminal charges. He retained me and I went to work on the case.
The prosecutor made it very obvious that she wanted my client to serve a long term of incarceration. She made us a three and a half (3½) year plea offer which I thought was unreasonable give the circumstances. As the case went on, my client’s resolve started to weaken. He was considering taking the plea. I told him it was his decision, but I did not recommend taking the plea. While I advised him to seriously consider the plea before making a decision, I did not see the plea having a great benefit based on several weaknesses in the State's case.
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