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Sentencing In Criminal Cases

Sentencing Depends on Different Circumstances

Sentencing in criminal cases in Los Angeles is a huge issue. Like it or not, many cases in LA County are resolved through a negotiated plea with either the prosecutor or the judge, or the person goes to trial and is found guilty.

If that's the case, they're going to get sentenced. Suppose you don't know anything about sentencing. In that case, you don't understand how it works – you're going to be in a world of hurt in a criminal case because of all the bad things that a judge can do to you once they are targeted in on you and have decided to sentence you in a criminal case.

So, you have to decide whether it's a felony or misdemeanor. You have to decide what type of evidence you can present to help yourself. In other words, what mitigating factors can you give the judge? That depends on many different circumstances.

That depends on your age, your criminal record, what you did in the current case, and what you are likely to do in the future. Do you have a job? Do you have a family? Do you have a house?

Are you the type of person who can learn from a mistake? Do we get an expert report that will help in the sentencing? What will the criminal defense attorney argue at your sentencing? What will the prosecutor argue at your sentencing in Los Angeles, and what will the judge consider?

These questions must be raised, thought about, and debated. Then you put together your plan on how you're going to get the best sentence possible for you so that you can protect such interests as your right to bear arms, your right to vote, your right to be free, your right to drive, your right to travel – the list goes on and on and on of all the different things that can be imposed on you in sentencing in a criminal case in Los Angeles – whether it's a felony or a misdemeanor.

I've seen people get misdemeanors and lose the right to bear arms for ten years. I've seen people get misdemeanors and go to jail for a year in the county jail.

Review of Sentencing Factors with Your Lawyer

So, these sentencing factors are critical, and the only way to ferret it out and figure out what type of things you're going to argue at sentencing and what things are going to be important is by sitting down with your attorney, going over what you consider all the mitigating factors step by step, being honest about your case, what evidence is going to come up against you and then letting your attorney do their job Let them put in a sentencing memorandum if it's appropriate where they put in a written argument in about you.

They put character letters in there. They argue the law relative to your case. They say mitigating things vital to you that will sway the judge in your favor. You have to let your criminal defense attorney do that when it comes to sentencing, and you have to help arm them with all the mitigating factors that relate to you.

A lot of times, the police only include the factors in the police report that are negative toward you to help prove the case. What about the other factors? Sometimes, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. What do you think about getting your story across?

Effective sentencing is made for this purpose in a criminal defense case. Make sure you have the right attorney who knows what they're doing and is armed with all the good mitigating factors relating to you; then, you will end up with the best result. 

You'll get out of the criminal justice system as fast as possible, and your sentence will end up being reasonable – something you can live with and something that has been defended and challenged by your criminal defense attorney with all the facts relative to you that help the judge make the right decision in your criminal case.

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