5 Instances A Guilty Plea Can Help Your Case

If you or someone you love is a defendant in a criminal trial, you may have questions about the instances when a guilty plea can help your case. When it’s a question of whether it’s best to plead guilty or take one’s chances at trial, he or she may worry about more than actual innocence. Contact a Philly criminal defense attorney to discuss your matter now.

There are risks associated with going to trial. Some innocent individuals may opt to plead guilty instead of risking the decisions of the judge and jury. Contact a criminal lawyer in Philadelphia to discuss the pros or cons of these options. Although a criminal defense lawyer can suggest that the criminal defendant accept a guilty plea, it is always up to the accused to make the final decision. In this article, we discuss the five instances a guilty plea can help your case.

The Pros of a Guilty Plea

Entering a guilty plea make sense in the following scenarios:

1. When a defendant pleads guilty, they consider the bottom-line results. By entering a guilty plea, the defendant can more quickly resolve the case instead of waiting a year or longer to go to trial.
2. The defendant will spend less on the cost of defense. If the defendant or their family is paying for a criminal attorney, entering a guilty plea can mean saving many thousands of dollars on legal fees.
3. If a criminal defendant enters a guilty plea when they are presented by an attorney, it’s usually the result of the plea bargaining process. The criminal defense attorney and the prosecutor reach an agreement regarding the defendant’s possible sentence. The defendant agrees to plead guilty in exchange for reduced charges or a lesser jail or prison sentence.
4. Entering a guilty plea means the defendant won’t face a trial and the possible uncertainty of the results. Juries are known to be unpredictable. Prosecutors might discover more evidence that facilitates the jury’s likelihood of rendering a conviction. Trials are also extremely public. Pleading guilty lessens attention from the media and protects the defendant’s family from unwanted attention.
5. Pleading guilty can lower the defendant’s stress level. If the defendant has high ethical and moral standards, committing a large or small crime may be emotionally difficult or impossible to bear. Admitting guilt may help the defendant to face the future.

The Cons of a Guilty Plea

There are also risks associated with entering a guilty plea. For instance, an innocent person may face criminal punishment, e.g. paying fines or restitution or going to jail for a crime they didn’t commit. In addition, entering a guilty plea means that the individual now has a criminal record. This criminal record can change many things, including the individual’s employment, access to education, or federal student loans.

Accepting a plea bargain may offer negligible benefits to the defendant. There may be little or no incentive for the defendant to plead guilty if they face the same punishments as the punishments under the plea agreement. A prosecutor may elect to float a better offer to avoid the expense of trial and prosecution.

Don’t accept someone else’s word that entering a guilty plea is the best way to resolve your case. An experienced criminal defense lawyer can evaluate the specific pros and cons of your matter.

Contact an Experienced Criminal Defense Lawyer

Each criminal case is unique. Before you or someone you love accepts a guilty plea, call The Law Offices of Richard J. Fuschino, Jr. to request a free case evaluation at (215) 515-8600 now.