Is it right that they can threaten you with a huge sentence to get you to plead guilty/no contest to charges. I was barely over the limit on a DUI and wanted to go not guilty but I was told I could get 12 months as I had been already in jail and was on probation.
I ended up getting 30 days when most people wouldn't get any jail time for something similar. Seemed unfair to me but I sure as hell wasn't going to risk 12 months.
2007-03-14 08:00:48 · 5 answers · asked by Jamie 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
Is it fair that you were drinking before and just cause you were just barely over the limit you think it is ok to drive? I personally think you got off easy but what were u on probation for drinking and driving?
Would it have been fair if you would have hit someone and injured them?
2007-03-14 08:10:10 · answer #1 · answered by Firestorm 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes pleas are fair, over 90% of all cases plea down.
It sounds to me like you want to have your cake and eat it too.
You want the govt to have to go through the motions and prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you were driving drunk, thereby increasing the chance they may make a mistake and you will get off. But you don't want to have to face the jail time if they do succeed.
The plea is a fair compromise, the govt doesn't have to jump through hoops and you don't have to serve a year in prison. If you were Innocent you should have fought it but something tells me they pretty much had you dead to rights if your attorney didn't think it was worth fighting.
2007-03-14 08:21:51 · answer #2 · answered by Daz2020 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They (the prosecutos) cannot threaten you with any sentence greater than the law allows, and the prosecutors aren't the ones writing the laws.
As far as fair -- it's an adversarial system. Some people play fair, and some use every bit of leverage they can to win. That's true on both sides of the courtroom, and both sides of the polical spectrum.
2007-03-14 11:56:41 · answer #3 · answered by coragryph 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The justice system in a whole is unfair. It is just a business, except defendant's fates hang in the balance. If you have $$$, you have a better chance of things working out in your favor; this includes plea bargaining.
2007-03-14 08:11:03 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pleas are a good thing for cutting out the time and cost of trial. However, it depends on how they are used. To minimize the sentence of a child abuser is unforgiveable. To minimize the sentence for drug distribtors, then I don't mind as much.
2007-03-14 08:09:15 · answer #5 · answered by csucdartgirl 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋