Plea Bargaining in a California Criminal Case
Many people might ask why I need to know about plea bargaining. I don't have anything to do with plea bargaining in my criminal case. That's going to be up to my criminal defense attorney.
Indeed, your criminal defense attorney plays a pivotal role in your case. They will be the one negotiating with the prosecutor and the judge, determining the course of your case and whether plea bargaining is necessary.
While your attorney will lead the legal proceedings, your input can be invaluable. By understanding the basics of plea bargaining, you can actively assist your attorney and potentially influence the outcome of your case.
First and foremost, you need to sit down with your attorney — and I do this all the time with my clients — and of course, I'm writing this for you so you can get a sense of how the criminal system works — what you can do to help your attorney operate within it on your behalf. Maybe you can come up with some good information that the attorney can use to help you.
That's the whole point of you interacting with your attorney as it relates to your criminal case, and that is for your attorney to try and work with you as a team to get the desired result. So, step number one is to figure out do you want to engage in plea bargaining in the first place. I need to know that as your advocate. I need to see if we're fighting this thing all the way, and we're taking it to trial.
If I know that I don't have to negotiate with the prosecutors at all, that gives me a secret advantage. Most prosecutors think that the case they filed against the person is so strong that there's no way they're going to try to challenge me. This knowledge allows me to strategize and catch them off-guard, which I find particularly satisfying. Our Los Angeles criminal defense lawyers will delve into this topic further below, providing you with a comprehensive understanding of our approach.
So, they're geared towards negotiating, plea bargaining, and trying to work the criminal case out. If I go in knowing that I'm going to be able to attack them — catch them off-guard, catch them unprepared for the criminal case. I love that. That's my favorite stuff. I go in there, and I don't even tell them what my plans are until the last minute — until I have to — so I can catch them by surprise. Our Los Angeles criminal defense lawyers will review this topic further below.
Negotiating With Prosecutor on Plea Bargain
But if, on the other hand — like most criminal cases that are filed because the prosecutors typically aren't going to file a case if there's no evidence against a person. Most of the time, we're going to have to plea bargain, and that's why this section is essential.
What type of information do I need when it comes to plea bargaining? I need to know about you. I need to know the good things about you. Can we get character letters from people who know you? Family members, friends, people from your religious organization, people from your school — there are all sorts of areas that I can get these character letters from, and they're talking about what type of person you are.
We want them to be saying good things about you — that you're a good person and that you impacted their life or the lives of those around you positively. That's something we want the prosecutor to know when we plea bargain.
We don't want them to think that you're a smooth criminal who's out there causing trouble in the community that they need to protect society against. No, that's not what we're looking for. We're looking for the opposite impression, and that's why we get the character letters.
Another thing is if you've got a good job — maybe you own your own business, perhaps you work for a big company or whether you work for a small company. It doesn't matter. They want to see that you have a good job and have something else to pursue in life other than committing offenses.
So, getting a letter from your job and the letter doesn't have to be geared toward the position, knowing you have a criminal case pending against you and you have to break the bad news to your boss — no. It's just a letter showing you've got an excellent job, what you are due and that you've got a future there. That's important. So, those two things are a foundation, in my opinion, when it comes to plea bargaining. I didn't know about that.
I need to have that information. If we get letters from people showing that you're a good person who's an upstanding member of society, that will help us plea bargain your criminal case. And then, of course, you've got to look at the case. That's another important facet.
Type of Criminal Charges You Are Facing
What is your case all about? Why are you being charged? Is there a version of events that the police don't have that you can give me about the case? Are there witnesses that we don't know about? Is there an investigation that can be done that can show another angle to the case?
Sometimes, we can do the investigation, get the witnesses, show the prosecutor that you're innocent, and then get them to dismiss the case. But most of the time, and more realistic when it comes to criminal defense, we're showing the other side of the equation. We're trying to mitigate things. We're trying to do damage control. We're trying to show them that everything is not what meets the eye here.
The police should have done a full, thorough investigation. We're showing them there are other witnesses; there's additional information. This is not as bad as you think. There's a reason this happened, and the police haven't given it to you. The prosecutors, judge, we're giving it to you.
Here it is. So, we're trying to show the other side of the equation when we do this plea bargaining. I need to negotiate with these prosecutors or the judge, depending on the strategy, with all of this essential information at my fingertips. Then, it will be up to me as your advocate to figure out what the best plea bargaining strategy is in your particular case.
Knowing Prosecutors in Local Los Angeles Court
In other words, who am I going to talk to? Does the prosecutor in the court where your case is pending even have the authority to plea bargain a case? Most of the time, the answer is absolute no. I'm going to have to go to their supervisor.
I will have to go to the number two DA in that courthouse. I'm going to have to go to the head DA, maybe. Sometimes, I get cases where the person has a strike on their record, an attempted murder case, or another serious case, and I have to go to the head DA.
The head DA in that particular courthouse is the only one who has the authority to do anything related to those charges. You've got to know that as a criminal defense attorney going into the negotiation which you're going to be dealing with because who you're dealing with will dictate what your strategy will be.
Sometimes, we're dealing with a tough prosecutor who will not give us what we want—who will provide us with what we perceive as a fair plea bargain resolution. So maybe we have to get to the judge in that case. So now we have to know what judge we're dealing with.
We've got to find a judge that will have the money to say to the DA if it's the right thing to do, you know what, prosecutor, you're not being reasonable in this case. Hedding is making a good point here, and you're ignoring, and you know what, I'm going to step in. I'm a judge. I get to decide what the sentence is going to be. I don't think his client should have to go to prison. I guess I'm going to give him a chance. I'm going to put him on probation.
Making the Decision to Pursue a Plea Bargain
So, we have to decide whether we're going to take the case to a judge or run it through the prosecutor system and try to get a resolution in that regard. So now you start to get a grip and a feel for what plea bargaining is all about, the things that I will need as your advocate going into the plea bargaining, which I'm looking to talk to, and the type of things I'm going to be keying on.
We will be looking at whether you're a danger to society if the judge gives you a break. Do you need to be punished and taken out of the community, and if you do need to be taken out of the community because of what you did, should you go to jail? Should you go to prison? Should you go into rehab, or should you go into some other setting that addresses the root problem of why you got arrested in the first place?
So, these are the types of things we're thinking about and listen; it's a different approach in every case. That doesn't make sense. It's not the same circumstances in every case. You have different defendants at different levels. Some defendants have criminal records — some don't, so you've got to look at who you're dealing with. You've got to look at the scenario that you're dealing with. This is where you're hiring somebody who has been doing this for a long time.
I've got a background, having worked for the DA's office as a judge and as a criminal defense attorney for over 26 years at this point. I have a good feel for what it's going to take to get you what you need, what's realistic to even shoot for in the first place, and the step-by-step process to bring you the result you must have.
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