I note in the post below that I went to Bethel twice last week. Long story, but essentially, I went to talk to a client about whether he was going to go to trial or plead.
This client was charged with murder 1. The penalty for murder 1 is 20 - 99 years in prison. Good time can cut 1/3 off that. Discretionary parole, if not restricted by the court, can cut 2/3 off the sentence given by the court (although on murder 1 charges, discretionary parole is restricted more often than not). Most murder sentences are 50 - 99 years. Plea offer was to plead open to manslaughter, conceding some aggravators. The potential penalty range on manslaughter is 5 - 20 ears.
There were a couple of matters that made the client hesitate, neither of which I thought was a good reason. Between Tuesday and Thursday, I probably spent about 7 hours with him. I did not force him to plead, but I did tell him, repeatedly, that I thought a plea was in his best interest. Part of the reason I spent so much time with him is that he seemed rather unsure himself what he wanted to do. If I had a strong feeling that he really wanted a trial (or a plea), I would not have spent so much time but rather accepted his decision and announced such to the court.
This made me think: how much is it appropriate for defense lawyers to 'lean' on their clients to plead? I try to not be dogmatic about pleading unless the offer is really, really sweet. For example, I had a client charged with 4 unclassified felonies and a slew of other charges. He was looking at about 26 years of prison to start, maximum of up to about 250 years. I got a single misdemeanor offer. The client said, "Well, if the proof is so bad, we should go to trial." I will confess I leaned on him rather heavily and after the sentencing hearing, I knew even more it was the right decision.
While it never leaves the back of my mind, I try very hard to not let the personal benefits of plea or trial enter into what I tell clients or my decision about legal advice to give clients. By personal benefits, I mean that sometimes there are cases that, for whatever reason, I would rather not try. Sometimes, a trial comes at just a really bad time for my schedule. Othertimes, I know that a trial is a complete waste of time. That is just part of life and I figure that is my problem not the clients'.
It's a part of this job to tell clients the truth, including whether they should plead. On the other hand, clients have the absolute right to go to trial. Somewhere between those two certainties is a lot of discretion and judgment.
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