Not without a fight
From chiashurb:
Not Guilty
Entering a plea of not guilty in a criminal case is not necessarily a statement by either the lawyer or the client that "defendant didn't do the thing that prosecutor says he did." Defendant doesn't have to say whether or not he did those things, and neither does defender. A plea of not guilty simply means, "I am a free person and I will not give that up without a fight." Nothing more, nothing less...
I'm thinking of forwarding the link to the Pocatello judge who said he'd hand out a harsher sentence to the defendant who'd make the state prove its case in trial.
2 Comments:
Like it or not, the "trial tax," as they call it in Chicago, is a fact of law and life. It happens in Washington and in fact is acknowledged throughout the system. In 2004, the Court of Appeals in State v. Korum reversed a sentence of a young man who pled guilty to some crimes, was sentenced to 135 months in prison, withdrew his plea, was convicted and was sentenced to 1208 months. Judge Hunt stated, in her opinion, "Although some significant increase in sentence recommendation is to be expected when a defendant rebuffs a plea bargain and puts the State to the risk and expense of a trial, nonetheless, this increase cannot be of a magnitude that suggests vindictive retaliation for the defendant's exercise of his right to withdraw a defective guilty plea and to request a trial." The Supreme Court of Washington reversed the Court of Appeals last year, holding that there was no vindictiveness established under the due process clause.
All the Pocatello judge did was acknowledge what actually occurs. It's the nature of the plea bargaining system. It's certainly arguable that one who takes responsibility for behavior is on the way to rehabilitation. It's also arguable that there should be no punishment for forcing the state to prove its case.
swinburnestomp@yahoo.com
Those are fair enough points.
Here is a link to State v. Korum.
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