2 ms·

What would you consider a "violent drug offense"? Or, am I misreading your question?

• throwaway0a5e 6y ago
  It's easy to see how pistol whipping someone over a bad drug deal could be plead down to a non-violent possession/dealing offense because proving assault and battery is hard when the prosecution only has testimony and circumstantial evidence the prosecution's star witness is an addict with a mile long record. Possession is very easy to prove. A&B, DV, etc, etc are much harder to prosecute (and by "much" I mean "some work" vs "practically no work") so possession is a good offense to anchor a plea bargain for those other things to. Personally I say release them all and just wait for the bad ones to filter back into the system but I can see why some people are hesitant.
  • pmiller2 6y ago
    But, neither assault nor battery are drug offenses.
  • rwmurrayVT 6y ago
    The original charges are always shown in the judicial record even if they are later dropped from prosecution.
    • throwaway0a5e 6y ago
      True, now what happens when prosecution systemically throws the book for the purpose of securing better plea bargains? Maybe you didn't pistol whip that guy, maybe you just smacked him upside the head but you were packing when you did it so the prosecutor throws all the possible charges on the list. Both sides of the problem relate to each other. People plead from "real crimes" down to "petty crimes" but prosecutors know this so they charge people with "real crimes" that won't stick just to get better plea deals on petty crimes and pad their stats.