Quote:
Originally Posted by L-Pink
I don't like that someone can be found guilty of a lesser charge. That gives the jury an out which defeats the guilty/non-guilty purpose of a trial. The district attorney should pick a charge then ask the jury to decide guilty or not.
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Yeah the deck is stacked against you. Police lay on as many charges as they can when you are arrested. The prosecutor will lay on as severe a charge that he can and multiple lesser charges in an attempt to get you to plea to a lesser charge...in order to save the money that a trial costs. And if you do go to trial with the multiple lesser charges the jury will almost always convict you of something.
A very famous criminal trial defense attorney once stated that he never asks a client if he is innocent or guilty because he always considers them to be guilty as the police are to stupid to arrest anyone other than those that are obviously guilty.
Fortunately one of the only saving graces about our justice system is that the overwhelming majority of defendants are guilty.