Put yourself in the defense attorney's position. You want to get the best plea agreement possible for your clients

Question

What types of things will you look for in the report and in your interviews with your client (and possibly witnesses) to use in bargaining with the prosecutor?

Answer 1

The main three factors that a defense attorney will look at is:
• The seriousness of the crime itself.
• The strength of the evidence against the defendant.
• The likelihood of a guilty verdict at trial.
The seriousness of the crime is easy to glean from charge itself, but the strength of the case is usually where the push and shove comes in. The defense attorney wants to do all she can to find potential weaknesses in hopes that the prosecutor will back down a little. If the defense attorney can convince the prosecutor that there is a possibility a jury wouldn't convict the defendant, it would be easier to get a great deal. One of the tactics a defense attorney will use is to focus on the witnesses. If a witness is young, not reputable, or not believable, the defense attorney would be able to paint a picture for the prosecutor of what she plans to do to discredit the witness on the stand. Often it isn't in the best interest of a witness to go through the extra trauma of a trial. This is especially true in child crimes.