Plea Agreement

“Now, when you're gonna court, a decision time will come when you'll have to decide whether you're gonna take this to trial, or whether you're gonna take a plea agreement. With the pre-trial conferences, once you've had your attorney talk to the district attorney, we're then gonna decide what different route we wanna take, so there are two different paths. If you're going through with the plea agreement, what will happen is after the pre-trial conference, your attorney will set what's called a plea and sentencing date. At that time, you're gonna be coming before the judge to enter a plea before the court, and at the plea and sentencing, you and your attorney have worked out a deal with the district attorney.”

“A plea bargain is a binding agreement between the prosecutor and the defendant charges without incurring the time, expense, and uncertainty of a jury trial. In a written plea agreement, the defendant agrees to plead guilty, often in exchange for a reduced charge, a dismissal of some of the counts, or maybe a minimized sentence.”

“The sixth mistake I see is too often giving up and pleading guilty too quickly. A DUI charge does not mean automatic conviction. There are numerous defenses that can be explored. For instance, illegal traffic stops, improper field sobriety test administration, breath test errors or calibration issues, blood test contamination, rising BAC, medical conditions that could affect the results, violations of Miranda rights, and procedural stakes by law enforcement. Every case deserves a thorough investigation before you consider any plea agreement. I've seen charges reduced or even dismissed in cases that initially looked hopeless.”

“The sixth mistake I see is too often giving up and pleading guilty too quickly. A DUI charge does not mean automatic conviction.”