3 ms·
But the prosecutor doesn't decide the sentence. The judge or jury do. And prosecutors need to be careful. If they go for a more serious charge, but can't pro
by refurb 3y ago
But the prosecutor doesn't decide the sentence. The judge or jury do.
And prosecutors need to be careful. If they go for a more serious charge, but can't prove it, the defendant may be found not guilty when they would have been found guilty of a lesser charge (this happened to me on a jury - we found them not guilty of 1st degree murder, but likely would have found them guilty of manslaughter, but that wasn't an option).
- eviks 3y agoNot really, there are mandatory minimums and various sentencing guidelines, so the judge is not doing completely random stuff independent of the charges the prosecutor brings. And you example is a bit backwards: the trial happened after the plea bargain failed, so this has little effect on the threat to bring more (or more serious) charges, but even if it does: the "careful" sub-range is still measured in multiples/years, so a huge risk
- refurb 3y agosub-range is still measured in multiples/years, so a huge risk And the plea bargain is what? It’s often not that different. You might go to trial facing up to 10 years (but your lawyer says 5 is likely) or a plea bargain to 4.
- eviks 3y agoYes, if your made up numbers are 1 year apart, you won't see much difference The "careful sub-range" is what affects the likely 5 number ("careful" in that it doesn't allow the lawyer to call bs on the charge and say that the likely sentence is now lower since there is a higher likelihood of not being convicted), not the not very relevant maximum of 10