Plea Agreements in NJ Courts: What You Need to Know
At the Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall, our criminal defense lawyers represent the accused, striving to help each client get the best possible outcome. The attorneys have over fifteen years of experience in New Jersey state and municipal courts. As a result of that experience they may recommend that a client, due to the unique aspects of the case, accept a plea bargain rather than going to trial. Our obligation is to protect your interests and our criminal lawyers will strive to provide the best plea recommendation for your individual situation. Everyone wants to emerge from a criminal case without a new conviction on their record, but that is only a likely scenario in some circumstances. If it is obvious that you are innocent, you might not even need to enter a plea at all. When the evidence against you is flimsy, or you can easily prove that the police only obtained the evidence by violating your rights, then your lawyer may be able to persuade the prosecution to drop the charges.
What is a Plea in a Criminal Case?
One of the steps in a criminal case is the plea hearing. At a plea hearing, the judge reads the defendant a list of the charges they are facing; in practice, the defendant already knows about the charges, and the defendant and his or her criminal defense lawyer have already decided on the plea that the defendant will answer. After reading the charges, the judge then says, “How do you plead?” for each charge, and the defendant may respond “guilty” or “not guilty.” If the defendant pleads guilty, the court then schedules a sentencing hearing, where the judge will recite the penalties that the defendant must complete in order to fulfill the conditions of their sentence. If the defendant pleads not guilty, the case will go to trial. The usually takes several months after the plea hearing, and there may be several additional hearings before the trial, during which the judge will rule on whether to include or exclude certain pieces of evidence that the prosecution or defense wants to present.
A guilty plea is a formal affirmation that you committed the crime. You should not plead guilty if you know that the accusations against you are false. A plea of not guilty means that you do not admit to committing the crime of which you are accused. If you plead not guilty, the burden of proof is on the prosecution to persuade the jurors at trial. The burden of proof in criminal cases is “beyond a reasonable doubt,” which means that you can get acquitted at trial if the evidence your lawyer presents leaves the jurors genuinely unsure whether or not you committed the crime.
Entering a plea of guilty, not guilty, or no contest is part of every criminal case that makes it past the preliminary stages. A plea of no contest is like a guilty plea in that you accept a penalty, but you neither admit fault nor deny that you committed the offense. You may also need to enter a plea if you go to traffic court. In New Jersey, drunk driving, also known as driving while intoxicated (DWI) or driving under the influence (DUI) counts as a traffic offense, so DWI cases go through traffic court instead of criminal court. When you plead guilty to a crime, a conviction goes on your criminal record, and the court hands down a sentence, such as fines, probation, or jail. When you plead guilty in traffic court, you also get a sentence, but instead of getting a conviction on your criminal record, you simply get points on your driving record. This means that a DWI will automatically disappear from your record after enough years have gone by, but a criminal conviction will not.
Why Do Some Criminal Defendants Choose to Plead Guilty?
Most of the time, when defendants plead guilty in criminal cases, it is because a guilty plea almost always leads to a lighter sentence than if the defendant had been convicted at a jury trial. Almost every criminal offense comes with a range of sentences from which judges may choose. For example, if you plead guilty to a disorderly persons offense (the type of offense known as a misdemeanor in most other states), the chances are good that you can avoid jail time and that the judge will instead sentence you to probation, fines, community service, or a combination thereof. For an indictable offense (the type of crime known as a felony in other states), the possible penalty might be one to five years in state prison, but if you plead guilty, your sentence will likely be much closer to one year than to five.
In a plea bargain, also known as a plea deal, the prosecutors and the defendant’s lawyer agree on what the sentence will be if the defendant pleads guilty. This means that if you get a plea deal, you already know what your sentence will be before you enter your guilty plea. Some plea deals are simply a matter of the prosecution agreeing to the lowest possible sentence for the crime. If the offense carries a mandatory minimum prison sentence, then your lawyer may have to negotiate a plea bargain where the prosecution reduces your charges to a different charge with a lower minimum sentence. For example, in a case where a defendant is accused of possession of illegal drugs with intent to deliver, his lawyer may strike a deal with the prosecution where they reduce the charges to simple possession, which would allow the defendant to spend a few months in county jail instead of a few years in state prison.
By contrast, if you plead not guilty and go to trial, your sentence is the farthest thing from your lawyer’s mind and from the prosecutors’ minds. Until the jury returns a verdict, the prosecutors only care about proving your guilt, and you and your criminal defense lawyer only care about establishing reasonable doubt. If the jury convicts you, the prosecution and your lawyer may need to go through additional hearings to determine an appropriate sentence. In other words, if you plead not guilty and then get a conviction at trial, you have much less control over your sentence than you would have if you had pleaded guilty and taken a plea deal.
Why Do Prosecutors Offer Plea Bargains?
Prosecutors do not just offer plea deals out of the kindness of their hearts. It is also in the state’s interest for defendants to plead guilty. The main reason is that trials are expensive. If a defendant pleads not guilty, then the prosecution must spend many hours of work preparing for the trial, and the state uses public funds to pay them for it. If the defendant hires his or her own criminal defense lawyer, the state only has to spend taxpayers’ money on the prosecution side of the case. If the defendant cannot afford a lawyer, the state of New Jersey will appoint a public defender to represent him or her; representation by an attorney is a constitutional right of defendants in criminal cases, whether or not they can afford to pay for legal representation. In other words, the state must pay both the prosecutors and the public defenders to work on the case. It is much simpler for everyone, defendants and lawyers alike when defendants plead guilty.
Civil Reservation and New Jersey Plea Bargains
Some plea bargains in New Jersey offer civil reservation. New Jersey is one of only a few states where requesting civil reservation is an option. In cases where the alleged crime caused financial losses or physical injury to the victim, the victim has the right to sue the defendant in civil court, regardless of the outcome of the criminal case. If the defendant pleads guilty or is convicted at trial in criminal court, then the civil case is practically a slam dunk for the plaintiff (the victim in the criminal case). The victim can still win his criminal case even if the defendant was acquitted or if the defendant’s criminal charges were dropped before the case got far enough for the defendant to enter a plea. To convict a defendant in criminal court, prosecutors must convince twelve jurors that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. By contrast, to get a civil court to award her compensatory damages, a plaintiff must only demonstrate a preponderance of the evidence, which means that she must persuade the judge or five out of the six jurors that her interpretation of events is correct.
When defendants in criminal cases plead guilty, they can request a civil reservation, which means that the victim cannot sue them in civil court for the financial losses the victim suffered because of the defendant’s crime. The New Jersey courts grant most of the requests they receive for civil reservation. Even if you get a civil reservation, the court can order you to pay restitution to the victim. Civil reservation is only an option when you plead guilty. Defendants convicted at trial cannot get civil reservation. Many of the cases where defendants request civil reservation involve DWI, assault, vandalism, or financial crimes.
Pleading not guilty and trial versus negotiating
A plea agreement may provide a quick, reasonable, and risk-free resolution to a criminal case. However, depending on your personal goals and the unique aspects of your situation, you may be better served by going to trial. Our attorneys will discuss a number of issues with you before making a recommendation. Are you prepared for the risk and expense of a trial? Are you an immigrant? How strong or weak is the State’s case against you? Do you have information that would help the prosecuting attorney in another case? What will your permanent record show after you accept the plea agreement?
Areas in which plea bargains should be considered:
If you have been arrested or charged with a crime in New Jersey, exercise your right to remain silent. A criminal defense lawyer can help you acheive the best possible outcome in your case, and decide whether to plead guilty and help you negotiate a plea deal. Call toll free 855-450-8310 or e-mail our New Jersey law firm to arrange a free consultation with a criminal defense attorney.
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