We don’t hear this question very often. Pleas, usually agreed pleas, resolve over 90 percent of the criminal cases in Cobb County. But considering the vast number of cases that move through the system, lots of lawyers advise lots of clients to go to trial.
Agreed plea bargains, even if they’re less than ideal, are usually the best option. A guilty or no contest plea produces a guaranteed outcome. Technically, the judge has the power to accept or reject these agreements, but judges hardly ever exercise this power (in about .01 percent of cases in our experience).
Many defendants assume that avoiding trial is always the safest or easiest option. However, very few things in life are “always” true or false. An experienced Marietta criminal defense attorney may have strategic, legal, and practical reasons for encouraging a client to fight a case in court.
How Criminal Trials Work in Georgia
Before we go further, we should explain what a criminal trial involves. In Georgia, a trial typically includes jury selection (in a jury trial), opening arguments (again only in a jury trial), presentation of evidence, including witness examination and cross-examination, and closing arguments. A judge or jury then decides whether the prosecution has proven guilt beyond any reasonable doubt.
By their very nature, trials are more time-consuming and complex than plea agreements, but they also create opportunities that plea deals do not.
Challenge Weak Evidence
One of the most common reasons your lawyer may recommend going to trial is that the prosecution’s case is weak. Common weaknesses include:
- Lack of Physical Evidence: Evidence obtained in violation of constitutional rights is inadmissible in court. Furthermore, a police officer’s determination that X is X is not the last word. In 2019, Georgia peace officers charged a college student with possession of cocaine. Scientific tests proved the “cocaine” was bird poop.
- Unreliable Witnesses: A witness could be accurate but unreliable. A blind squirrel occasionally finds a nut. If a witness is unreliable, usually due to bias or forgetfulness, that witness cannot testify in court.
- Constitutional Rights Violations: We mentioned this weakness above. Common rights violations include illegal searches and seizures and illegal police interrogations. If a procedural defense applies, the judge may throw the case out of court before the trial starts.
If a Marietta criminal defense attorney believes the prosecutor cannot meet the burden of proof, going to trial may be the best option. Accepting a plea deal in this situation could mean pleading guilty to an offense that, for all intents and purposes, you didn’t commit.
Better Outcome Than a Plea Deal
As mentioned, most plea deals are safe options, but they are not always the best option. A lawyer may advise going to trial if:
- Plea Deal Includes Harsh Penalties: Some offenses include mandatory minimums. Murder, armed robbery, and sexual battery (mandatory life sentences for repeat offenders) are a good example. In such situations, a lawyer always goes to trial, because there’s nothing to lose.
- Permanent Criminal Record: Record expungement or restriction is unavailable in most DUIs and many other criminal cases. A not-guilty trial verdict is generally the only way to avoid convictions in such matters.
- Not Beneficial: Poorly prepared Marietta criminal defense lawyer who don’t fully develop all legal defenses before plea negotiations begin usually get bad deals. The same thing is true if a lawyer has a “plea closet” reputation for never taking cases to trial.
In some cases, the potential reward of a not-guilty verdict outweighs the risk of trial. A lawyer’s job is to weigh those risks carefully and guide you accordingly.
Individual Rights
A trial allows lets an attorney fully challenge the prosecution’s case and protect your legal rights. This process includes:
- Cross-Examining Witnesses: Some of us are old enough to remember the Mark Fuhrman disaster in the 1990s O. J. Simpson trial. If O.J. pleaded guilty, that story would’ve never seen the light of day.
- Challenging Illegally Obtained Evidence: We discussed this issue above. Defendants who plead guilty don’t just admit the charges against them are true. They also agree that cops played by the rules.
- Presenting Your Side of the Story: Some people have equitable defenses. Eons ago, we represented a young man who killed a neighborhood drug dealer. He went to prison for his crime, but the sentence could have been worse.
Additionally, some defendants want to set up appeals that change laws. Agreed pleas are unappealable in most cases.
Strategic Pressure on the Prosecution
Sometimes, the decision to go to trial is part of a larger strategy. Because it delays the process, setting a case for trial improves leverage during plea negotiations.
Assume Trevor allegedly assaulted his girlfriend, Vicki. Mostly for political purposes, prosecutors want to throw the book at Trevor. So, his Marietta criminal defense lawyer sets the matter for trial. Nine months later, with the trial date looming, prosecutors learn that Vicki has relocated out of the area. Since she’s unavailable to testify at trial, the state has no witness and therefore no case.
This strategy is a little more common in low-level misdemeanors. Most prosecutors don’t want to spend a half day (or more) in court proving a drivers’ license suspension or criminal trespass case.
Jury Sympathy or Case Narrative
We mentioned equitable defenses above. In some cases, jury sympathy could affect not only the sentence but also the guilt/innocence determination. Examples include:
- Self-Defense: Georgia has very favorable self-defense laws, and more importantly, many jurors believe people have a fundamental right to defend themselves. The same thing could apply if another affirmative defense, such as coercion, is available.
- Mitigating Circumstances: Fictional literary hero Jean Valjean stole a loaf of bread to feed his sister’s starving children and got five years hard labor for his effort. Most modern jurors wouldn’t punish Valjean so harshly, if they punish him at all.
A quick Valjean footnote. He served nineteen years total because numerous escape attempts extended his sentence. Additionally, Valjean reached through a store window to grab a loaf of bread, which is technically burglary.
Long-Term Consequences of a Conviction
After his release, Valjean was issued a yellow passport which branded him as a convicted criminal, rendering him unemployable. Today, even a minor conviction in Georgia can have similar long-term consequences, in addition to other effects, such as immigration consequences.
If the collateral effects of a criminal conviction are intolerable and expungement/sealing is unavailable, by process of elimination, trial is the only option.
A plea deal is usually, but not always, the best option in Georgia. For a free consultation with an experienced criminal defense attorney in Marietta, contact the Phillips Law Firm, LLC. We routinely handle matters in Cobb County and nearby jurisdictions.
