Felony Plea Bargaining in Florida

Many people underestimate the value of a skilled criminal defense lawyer when it comes to negotiating a felony plea bargain. Specifically, a plea bargain is the process by which the State and the defense hammer out an agreement to be ratified by a presiding judge for sentencing.

Felony sentencing is much trickier than misdemeanor sentencing because felonies invoke the Florida Punishment Code.

Under the FPC, points are assessed for a variety of factors, and a total point number is very important: above 44 points, and a sentence must be a prison sentence unless a lawful downward departure is demonstrated.

Finding downward departure grounds is time consuming, difficult, yet can make all of the difference in the world between going to prison or getting community supervision.

Diversion programs in Florida: How they are abused

Florida has many forms of "diversion programs" or "specialty courts" where the key selling point in the complete and total dismissal of all criminal charges. Sounds awesome, right?

There is a catch.

First, this selling point usually fools people into thinking that they do not need legal counsel. After all, they reason, why not save on legal fees? They have messed up, so they reason, saving on legal fees is seen as a form of damage control.

Second, charges get dismissed: isn't that a great outcome? So, people often try to DIY, and:

• make incriminating statements to law enforcement in the field prior to or just after the arrest
• make incriminating statements to government officials 
• are unable to understand why they have so many burdensome requirements
• are frustrated by the intense level of government snooping supervision which seems worse than probation
• find out that they have to wait months and months for the ever elusive dismissal
• find out how easy it is for that dismissal to evaporate upon the slightest reason - being $5 short on a payment, late for a single minute, miss an appointment because the car breaks down, etc.
• Having entered a plea of guilty or no contest in order to get the dismissal, discover that the slightest mistake results in a jail or even a prison sentence
• learn they still have criminal history and often do not find out until months or even years later
• discover they actually had legal defenses that would have beaten the case or worse . . . 
• learn that the whole process would have been less burdensome, easier, quicker and result in zero criminal history if they had hired a skilled criminal defense lawyer.

These are just some of the problems that go with 1) the carrot of a charge dismissal, and; 2) the reality instead of the illusion.

A good rule of thumb for when to hire a criminal defense lawyer is simple: is any aspect of the potential penalty a jail or prison sentence? If the answer is yes, then hiring a criminal defense attorney is a no brainer. A skilled criminal defense lawyer can help you navigate the mine field of Florida criminal law and negotiate for the best terms for settlement, especially if a diversion program may be on the table.

Walton County, Florida, Pretrial Diversion

Pretrial diversion is a hot topic, and one that is often more abused than the lay person realizes. Why? when people think they have a poor case, or if they feel remorse because they are in fact, guilty, they often begin to feel a series of emotions that cloud their thinking.

For example, we have all heard the famous phrasing of the Miranda Warning, yet people still talk to the police, spill their guts, and have their words used against them - whether they are guilty or not. Likewise, with Pretrial Diversion, people ration of lies rationalize that they will "save money" by handling their case by themselves - and this is where the legal system pulls a fast one:

• they are offered pretrial diversion when they have a stronger case than they realize. Instead of an outright dismissal, charge reduction, or charge substitution, the person takes an unfavorable deal out of ignorance.
• they lack the negotiating skill to handle negotiating terms of pretrial diversion like a skilled criminal defense lawyer. Thus the State Attorney's Office takes advantage of the person's lack of knowledge and puts burdensome terms in the pretrial diversion agreement, terms no lawyer would recommend blind acceptance to. 
• their pretrial diversion is supervised when they could have obtained an unsupervised Deferred Prosecution Agreement

For each of these things, one thing is common: the lack of a skilled criminal defense lawyer negotiating on a defendant's behalf.

Settlement negotiations are one of the most important things criminal defense lawyers do to help people when they find themselves at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and accused of being on the wrong side of the law.