When someone is charged with a crime, it can be a very scary thing. There are many decisions to make and one of them in particular can have the most impact on the rest of your life. There are only three ways criminal cases end; with a dismissal, with a plea agreement, or taking your case to trial. How do you decide on taking your case to trial? How do you know if taking your case to trial is the best decision for you? In this blog, we will discuss this. Like all our blogs, this is intended for general informational purposes only, and not as a substitute for the advice and counsel of a criminal defense attorney.
First, you should know your case
Before you can make a decision about taking your case to trial, it is important that you have all the information possible. In the context of a criminal case, you will get that information from discovery. This will include all the potential evidence that law enforcement has gathered against you and that the prosecution would use against you in a criminal trial.
Your criminal defense attorney will receive your discovery, and he or she will give you an opportunity to review it. Often, clients tend not to want a copy of all their discovery. This is a mistake. One of the biggest parts of deciding on taking your case to trial is knowing exactly what the government’s case against you entails.
Next, you should weigh your options
After you have become familiar with your discovery, you and your attorney should discuss what they think the state can prove beyond a reasonable doubt. You and your attorney should also review the elements of the crime, collateral consequences of conviction and the sentencing guidelines with regard to your case.
Further, you and your attorney should review any plea offer that is available, and what trial strategies and defenses would be available to you. With this information YOU should determine whether not you want to take the risk of taking your case to trial. This is a personal decision that your attorney cannot make for you. Asking your attorney: “what do you think my chances are”? is problematic in that, you are really asking him to guess what a jury of strangers that he has never met is going to think.
The best course of action is to speak to your attorney, be aware of all the information, be aware of all the consequences and then determine two things:
- What do you think your chances of getting a better result by taking your case to trial than accepting the plea offer?
- Is taking your case to trial something that you want to do?
If you decide that taking your case to trial is your best course action, make sure you do everything your attorney asks in order to properly prepare.