I would say when you're weighing everything when you're thinking about your case and exactly how you're going to handle everything, the judge is probably the most important component of the case. The reason I say that is because in the end, if the person is convicted or if the person pleads guilty, the judge is going to be the one who decides exactly what the punishment is going to be.
That includes how long they're going to spend in custody and what type of restrictions are going to be placed on the person. Also, even leading up to a plea or going to trial, the judge is going to rule on any pre-trial motions. Our federal criminal defense lawyers are providing a review below.
Judge Rules on Motions and Presides Over Trial
So, the judge is crucial, and knowing who that judge is and what their tendencies are is important because you need to have a really good feel for how you're going to handle the case. Your federal criminal defense attorney, who is well-versed in the judge's past rulings and sentencing patterns, will play a significant role in advising you on how to proceed. One of the big factors is going to be the judge because, as I said, the judge will rule on any motion that you file, and the judge will be the one who presides over the trial.
Whether you end up convicted or negotiate a plea bargain with the prosecutor, the judge ultimately holds the power to sentence you. This underscores the significant role of the judge in the entire process.
It's interesting in federal cases; this just gives you the idea of the power that a judge has in a federal criminal case when a person works out a deal with the government, usually through a plea bargain.
Then, that plea bargain is presented to the judge, it's filed by the government, and then the clerk will contact both parties. It will be decided exactly when the defendant is going to go into court to take the plea.
What ends up happening is that the judge will ask a whole bunch of questions to make sure the person understands what they're pleading guilty to and what they're agreeing to. But also, I see almost every single judge say to the defendant, "Has anybody promised you what your sentence is going to be in this case?"
If the defendant doesn't say, "No, nobody's promised me anything," then there's going to be a problem because the judge is going to say, "Wait a minute. "How can somebody promise you what your sentence is going to be when I'm the one who decides, and I haven't talked to you? "
See, a lot of attorneys, unfortunately, must be telling their clients certain things like, you're going to get this much time if you plead guilty, and the reality is, the attorney needs to learn that for sure. All the attorney can do is know what the guideline range is for what the person pleads to.
So, the attorney is going to do simple arithmetic and simple figuring based on the plea agreement to tell the person, "Okay, you fall within this range."
Judge Has Discretion in Federal Sentencing Guidelines
For instance, if you plead guilty, you may fall within a certain range, but the judge has the discretion to go below or above that range. This discretion, when exercised after consulting the guidelines and considering all the presented information, can significantly impact the final sentence.
There are certain factors that the judge considers, and when they look at a defendant, obviously they're going to look at a whole host of things. They're going to look at that person's criminal record.
They're going to look at the person's involvement in the crime, they're going to look at their sophistication level,, how many victims there were. If it's a case where money was taken, they're going to look at how much money the alleged victim is out. If it's a drug case, they're going to look at how many drugs were involved. What was the weight, and were there any weapons involved?
So, there's a bunch of different factors that these judges look at and what I've noticed, especially here in Los Angeles, is that if you look at the bench as a whole, it's almost like anything in life. There are some judges who I would consider quite conservative and tough on crime, tough on sentencing, and obviously, if you had your choice, you probably wouldn't choose that judge.
There are other judges that I would say are more liberal — more reasonable to deal with and more likely to be fair when it comes to a particular defendant's sentence. Then there are those judges who kind of fall in the middle. It even gets a little more complicated than that because I'm sure some judges will be more harsh on certain offenses while being less harsh on other offenses.
So, your federal criminal defense attorney — and I think about this all the time — I've got to figure out what are the best arguments for my client? What makes the most sense is based on the circumstances that we find ourselves in.
Obviously, you want to use common sense arguments that somebody can relate to and say, okay, that makes sense. I'm going to consider that versus no, that doesn't make sense. Your client did X, Y, and Z, so you saying that really seems to be ignoring the fact that they committed a very serious crime and really trying to downplay things.
Arguments to a Federal Judge That Make Sense
So, you have to be careful what you say because, obviously, federal judges and federal prosecutors are very sophisticated and take their jobs very seriously. So, when you make an argument as a defense attorney when you make a statement as a defendant, and you're talking to that judge, you want to make sure that you're making an argument that makes sense.
You're making a statement to show remorse and that you realize the significance of the crime that you've committed, and in a lot of these crimes, you realize how much you've impacted certain victims in the case. If the judge feels like you really do not understand what you've done and that you may just do this again, then obviously, they're going to want to punish you to really show you what happens if you do this type of activity again.
On the other hand, if the judge feels that this person really truly gets what they did was wrong, understands the implications and impact of it, is not going to do it again, has learned, and has been punished to a degree by being arrested and all the bad things that come along with a federal criminal offense, then they're probably going to be more apt to be more reasonable with a particular defendant.
Judges are crucial in federal criminal cases. I talk about judges to my clients all the time. I give them my insight, having done criminal defense for 26 years, and we try to really come up with a good plan and a good strategy that makes sense depending on which judge we're dealing with, what the charges are, and my client's criminal history and where they stand related to the federal criminal case.
Hedding Law Firm is a criminal defense law firm located in Los Angeles County at 16000 Ventura Blvd #1208 Encino, CA 91436. We are also at 633 West Fifth Street, Los Angeles, CA 90071. Call (213) 542-0994 for a free case evaluation.
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