unfair plea bargain

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32napril

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I have a relative whose case involves charges brought against him at a state run facility. the initial charges included rape, carnal knowledge of a juvenile, and some other things. the charges dont include alot of what he was initially charged with. the case has been pending now for 3 years. a private investigator was hired who reassured us, (my family and i) that the prosecution wouldn't have enough evidence to convict him based solely on his findings. with all that, a plea bargain has been issued. i believe the plea is 14 months in jail as opposed to having a jury trial. so my family member says he's innocent and we believe he's innocent. the judge, private investigator, lawyer for my relative, and the prosecutor are all close-knit friends in a small town. so my relative feels like he has to take the plea just because of the affore mentioned. he feels like he's not being treated fairly because everyone stands to win so to speak. the case has basically boiled down to his word against the accuser. so my question is how can my relative fight something like this? if he's innocent what's the best thing he can do? he doesnt have any faith in his lawyer and neither do my family and i. we were too scared to switch to another lawyer this late in the game. we're going to court on monday, 2/22/10. we feel powerless. the lawyer basically bullied my relative into accepting the plea bargain, telling him he couldnt call or consult with his family members at the time when they wanted him to agree to a plea. they said it was mandatory for him to accept within like a day or two, and that was several weeks ago, with the court date this monday. he was also told that he would do jail time whether he's innocent or not based on the nature of the crime. the whole "innocent or not thing" really bothers me. I thought things were in place within our judicial system to counteract" partnerships", and "best friends for life", whether in a small louisiana town or a large urban city.
 
Pleas have not been accepted until done in front of a Judge. Plea bargains are often accepted on cases where they have little or nothing. 14 months isn't much of a sentence. If that is what they are offering they don't have much. It's hard not to do but you are over thinking this. Don't worry about things you can not control: The Judge, not in your control; the Prosecution, not in your control; the Prosecution and PI will always say they have you locked, Not in your control.

Stop worrying about the Judge, stop listening to the Prosecutor and Listen to your attorney. He she is the only one that is even close to being on your side. If your attorney is appointed, get a continuance and change attorney's do not worry about it being late in the game. If you have ANY DOUBT do not take the plea.

Plea bargains get better the closer you get to a decision. NEVER believe that a plea bargain will just go away. If they had you locked, they wouldn't offer you such an easy plea. They are trying to scare you. Only you can control your fear.
 
Granted, I have no control over those things, but I believe the lawyer is pushing my relative to accept the plea. He doesnt have a solid reputation. He wasnt even the original lawyer we wanted for the case, but he was cheaper so my parents made the decision to hire this particular lawyer. He's friends with the prosecutor as well. And like I said we really don't believe our lawyer has my relative's best interest at heart, it all seems "run-of-the mill" for him. But i really appreciate such a quick reply, and i'm going to inform my relative to not accept the plea and ask for a continuance...so that we can switch lawyers.
 
If you hired this attorney then you can hire another attorney for a "second" opinion. Believe me they are ALL FRIENDS. They all work together, they all know each other, they all eat out together. To a certain extent you WANT your lawyer to be friends with the Prosecution. If they are enemies there is bad blood between them. Lawyer's like plea bargains because there is certainty involved. (I was a defense attorney).

Get a second opinion. That is your right if you are paying for it. Good luck.
 
the relative has now taken the plea. but the way his attn. explained it to me and my family is that there's nothing "sexual" about the charges being brought up against my relative now. the attn says that the charges of cruelty to a juvenile and carnal knowledge of a juvenile make sense because the entire company that my relative worked for is facing charges. he worked for a state run facility that's military based. like everybody that he would've spoken with...the people that employed him etc are all facing charges. so my question is why is he still having to do time if his place of employment is being sued. he had a chain of command...he was instructed to do his job and he carried out those instructions according to the company. i dont know the company's policies, but i'm a registered nurse. and i know that if i carry out an order from a dr. and the order is somehow found "wrong"...the hospital comes under fire for that. i know i would have to make sure my documentation was in order and i'm sure my name would be in question but others would be held accountable before me. i mean, i want to know why the state (that was his employer) isnt taking more of the brunt from this case. if he followed company policy, why is he having to serve time? why isnt it that the state or the facility didnt train him properly? why doesnt it seem to matter that the state is at fault for its employees? can my relative argue that he shouldve been trained better? the fact that the state condoned his performance and never corrected his behavior before any of this is what's bothering me. i dont understand why he's having to do time for mistakes that are bigger than him...his company is at fault arent they? and i want to know if there's anything my family and i can do after all of this...he accepted the plea in front of the judge today. he'll be sentenced on march 6th after he completes his last class for the semester. the plea is for 14 months jail time.
 
Your relative did something inappropriate to a child. Carnal knowledge is a sexually based charge, do not be misled. Child molesters are evil and are also accomplished deceivers. They have to be to win the trust of children. You do not wish to believe these despicable charges against your loved one. The parent of the child is struggling with similar feelings.

If he's taken the plea, it's over! He's been admonished and warned in open court and on the record. To take a plea, he's given up any appellate rights, too.

He needs counselling, and more often than not, it doesn't help.

It's time to move on, because 14 months isn't nearly enough time for what he has done, despite what he's told you and what's written on that plea!

You don't sexually molest your patients. You are a professional. My wife and sister are physicians. They have never ordered nurses to molest or abuse patients.

I understand your frustration, but it seems misplaced. It's hard to accept it when those we love do evil acts. You'll never know why he did this, but you do know that no one ordered him to do so. And, even if they had, he could have and should have refused and reported it!


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unfair plea

army judge thanks for your response. unfortunately, i had the charges wrong. they are 2 counts of cruelty to a juvenile. not the carnal knowledge thing. that was dismissed this morning. so, no i dont molest my patients, and no physician or anyone else would ever make that order. sorry for the misinfo. but the issue is that he didnt do any of what was stated or what was offered in the plea this morning. the judge went back and forth with him to make sure my relative was sure of what he was pleading to ...i dont think the judge was buying that my relative did anything wrong anymore than i do. he's not a child molester! certainly, if the judge or anyone felt this way he would have been jail long before now. but my question was about the policies and so forth in place. i dont understand why he's being singled out to take the rep for faulty policies in place for a state facility.
 
army judge thanks for your response. unfortunately, i had the charges wrong. they are 2 counts of cruelty to a juvenile. not the carnal knowledge thing. that was dismissed this morning. so, no i dont molest my patients, and no physician or anyone else would ever make that order. sorry for the misinfo. but the issue is that he didnt do any of what was stated or what was offered in the plea this morning. the judge went back and forth with him to make sure my relative was sure of what he was pleading to ...i dont think the judge was buying that my relative did anything wrong anymore than i do. he's not a child molester! certainly, if the judge or anyone felt this way he would have been jail long before now. but my question was about the policies and so forth in place. i dont understand why he's being singled out to take the rep for faulty policies in place for a state facility.


Hon, he took a plea because he was being charged with a sexually based offense. There was obviously something going on - or at the very least, enough suspicion.
 
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