October 27th, 2009

I will never get past what I’ve done. My brother was terrified and looked to me for help and I told him to plead guilty. It was wrong and there is no way to undo the action. So, here are a few words of advise from a sister who convinced her brother to plead guilty and is now serving a 20 year sentence. It’s too late for my brother, but NEVER plead guilty unless the trial is just not worth it (e.g., some minor traffic). The plea bargain, if a reduced sentence, can be approximated after a court finding of guilty anyway. It is also possible that unknown circumstances can turn up. In my brother’s case, there were multiple ways that further psych evidence could be produced. What matters most, and what the majority of lawyers will never tell you, is that a “guilty” judgment has lasting impact on the person’s life. It will affect every aspect of that person’s life, and can make it much more difficult for the person should the same or another person make a charge. The hard part is convincing the defense attorney. A for-fee attorney already has incentive, but a public defender will merely try the case by rote unless inspired. The explanation is in a criminal defense attorney’s justification for “getting criminals off”: “If I get someone off, I’ve made the system work and that benefits the rest of us. If I lose, then a criminal was punished. The difficult part is where I have an innocent defendant. If my client is innocent, then his freedom depends on how I do my job.” Pray you get an attorney like this. I hired J.R. Hobbs out of Kansas City, Missouri. He didn’t care about my brother or my family – only money. A public defender will just do a bare minimum, unless the public defender is convinced that the person is innocent. If the defender is convinced, the defender will do what he can because he/she doesn’t want an innocent person to be punished on the lawyer’s account. It is not always easy to convince someone of innocence because of the common protestation of innocence. Often it is necessary to point out one item which contradicts the charges. (Example: photos showing no marks on a person “kicked 4 or 5 times in the head” by a 250 lb. man.) Once a first piece of evidence shows up, the rest will follow. It is not uncommon for garbage evidence to be used by the prosecutor. It is also common among some departments to ignore the requirement to provide exculpatory evidence (“Brady evidence”, Brady v. MD). A prosecution analysis of a defendant is not the end-all. In this country, a person is presumed guilty until proven innocent. Procedures are used to insure easy prosecution and there is a disincentive for the prosecutor to make a reasoned determination of culpability. It is up to the citizen, often at great expense, difficulty, and often luck, to prove innocence. But the consequences of a guilty plea are too great.