A former CEO pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography charges in October 2023. A judge recently sentenced him to seven years in prison.
When they executed a search warrant, officers found 5,047 images and 86,000 videos depicting child pornography. Many of the victims were under 12; some of them were toddlers and infants. A GBI special agent said the photos were “crime scenes in progress.”
Prior to his sentencing, he addressed the court to say he has struggled with pornography most of his life and his alcoholism led him down a “slippery slope he had no business in engaging with chasing a dopamine hit.” The judge also considered fifteen character letters which described the man as a “deeply troubled man who says he has turned to religion since being caught.”
The eighty-seven-month sentence was the lowest recommended prison term. Following his prison sentence, he must register as a sex offender and serve ten years’ supervised release.
Resolution Options
Primarily for the reasons listed below, over 95 percent of criminal defendants voluntarily (or at least semi-voluntarily) plead guilty or no contest. A trial, or a combination of a plea and trial, is available as well, as guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment.
Jury Trials
Ordinarily, a reformed sinner with a good reputation in the community is an excellent candidate for a jury trial, if a legal hook is available.
Jurors normally sympathize with non-violent offenders. Frequently, a Marietta criminal defense lawyer helps. The nerd defense is a good example. Jurors are statistically less likely to convict people who wear glasses, especially in violent criminal cases.
A jury cannot acquit a defendant, or convict a defendant, based solely on emotion. Legally, the evidence must support the jury’s verdict. Furthermore, although we’re all emotional creatures and emotion colors our decisions, we usually don’t let emotions override logic, especially in a court of law.
Possession cases normally have what a Marietta criminal defense lawyer calls a hook, simply because these matters have so many moving parts. To establish criminal possession, the state must prove:
- Proximity: This element is relatively straightforward. If an item is on a device you own, you possess it, even if you share that device with other people. Similarly, in vehicle cases, any item inside the passenger area (including a pickup truck’s bed or a car’s trunk) satisfies the proximity requirement.
- Knowledge: Most people don’t open, or even look at, spam emails. Furthermore, thumbnail images reveal no detail. Of course, if the defendant had some 90,000 images and videos, this argument probably wouldn’t pass the smell test. In a vehicle possession case, a person might not know the contents of the glove compartment.
- Control: If you know the device’s username and password, you control it, even if you never log in. Control could be an issue in vehicle possession cases. If Bill is in the rear passenger seat, he doesn’t control an item in the driver’s lap.
So, it’s unlikely that a legal hook was available in this case. Furthermore, most people believe that even reformed sinners must pay for their sins, especially transgressions that involve child pornography.
Bench Trials
In a bench trial, the judge is both factfinder and legal referee. Bench trials are very common in DUIs, if the evidence is weak. Most jurisdictions have no-dismissal policies. Prosecutors won’t agree to favorable plea bargains under any circumstances.
Delay is a consideration as well. Most defendants wait at least a year for a jury trial date. The delay in a bench trial case might only be a month or two.
Plea Bargains
Cost and control are the two biggest reasons why penalty reduction and/or charge reduction pela bargains resolve almost all criminal cases.
Trials are expensive, and the result is completely unpredictable. Plea bargain negotiation sessions are much easier to prepare for than trials, so the legal fees are much lower. Additionally, in pretrial negotiations, the client, not the judge or a jury, decides the outcome.
Penalty reduction plea bargains often involve pretrial diversion or deferred disposition. Pretrial diversion is basically a three-month (slightly longer in some courts), pre-conviction probation. Then, if the defendant successfully completes all program requirements, prosecutors dismiss the case. Deferred disposition is identical to regular probation in most respects. However, if the defendant successfully completes probation, the judge dismisses the case.
Charge reduction plea bargains are usually available in enhanced cases, like aggravated assault, or cases that could be charged as misdemeanors or felonies, like theft. Charge reduction plea bargains often encourage defendants to plead guilty. Furthermore, prosecutors don’t like the lack of control at trial any more than Marietta criminal defense lawyers. To them, a bird in the hand (a misdemeanor conviction in the books) is better than two in the bush (a possible felony conviction at trial).
Mixed Resolutions
Open pleas and slow pleas, tactics that a Cobb County judge might or might not allow, combine plea bargains and trials.
Note that the above story said nothing about a pela bargain agreement. So, most likely, the defendant’s lawyer used the character letters in an open plea. The defendant pleads guilty and asks the judge to set punishment. In this case, the tactic worked, and the judge sentenced the defendant to the minimum recommended prison term. However, there are no guarantees in these cases.
A slow plea resembles an open plea, except a jury, not the judge, assesses punishment. Slow pleas are often good alternatives if one of the aforementioned mitigating circumstances is available.
Supervised Release Violations
A criminal case doesn’t end when the judge’s gavel falls. The man in the above story must serve ten years of post-incarceration supervised release. He’ll almost certainly violate at least one release condition during such a long period of time. Common release conditions include:
- No more brushes with the law,
- Report to a supervision officer as dictated,
- Pay fines, restitution, etc.,
- Complete program requirements, such as an alcohol evaluation or community service requirement,
- Work and/or attend school full time,
- Remain current on child and spousal support payments,
- Possess no prohibited items, and
- Remain in the county.
The state must only prove a probation violation by a preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not). So, in a possession case, two out of three (possession, knowledge, control) is probably sufficient.
Several resolution options are available in criminal cases. For a free consultation with an experienced Marietta criminal defense lawyer, contact The Phillips Law Firm, LLC. Convenient payment plans are available.
