Sentence Consulting

 

In the realm of criminal defense and criminal defense investigations, the ultimate goal is dismissal or acquittal of all criminal charges.  However, the unfortunate reality is that more often than not, the end result is a conviction for a crime.  Often, the conviction is for a lesser crime but a criminal conviction is still a criminal conviction; and, with any criminal conviction, there is a resulting sentence meted out by the criminal Courts.

 

Experience reveals that the sentence after a conviction is often ignored, as addressing sentencing early would appear to be planning for defeat.  However, serving the client to the fullest potential should include preparing for all resulting possibilities, including a potential conviction.  It is therefore prudent and responsible, and appears almost essential in many cases, to plan for a clearly thought out Correctional Plan supported by reason, justified by Rules of Court and with the best interests of the client and community in mind.

 

What is a Correctional Plan?  In the event of a conviction, a Correctional Plan is a plan for sentencing that can be presented to the Court at the time of sentencing.  The plan is actually the result of an in depth investigation into the client’s social history presented in a logical format.  The goal is to present the client in as positive a light as is possible with factual information from all relevant sources.  This includes, but is not limited to, family history and dynamics, educational history, employment history, civic involvements, professional affiliations, substance abuse issues, mental health issues, and criminal history.

 

There are certain Rules of Court that dictate sentencing.  The interpretation of these Rules is critical and must be addressed by the Court at the time of sentencing.  It is precisely these Rules and their interpretation that can result in the difference between a community based sentence and a lengthy prison sentence or, to put it bluntly, can make or break the future of the client.  However, this aspect of a case is often overlooked or dismissed until the very end.  Keeping the need for a possible Correctional Plan in mind throughout the defense investigation may result in the gleaning of crucial information that can then be used to formulate a much more favorable Correctional Plan in the event of a conviction. 

 

A great deal of effort and time is often placed on the defense investigation and trial preparation and often little effort and time is placed on obtaining a reasonable sentence until it is very late in the process.  Waiting until the end to be prepared for a negative outcome often results in harsher than necessary sentences.  While many Courts already receive sentencing information from various sources, these sources are often overburdened and underpaid public servants with little time to investigate crucial information that can and should be included in the formulation of a recommendation for sentencing and subsequent development of a Correctional Plan.  The fact that a Judge may be lacking crucial information with which to make sentencing decisions is a travesty of justice.  Actually, the true travesty of justice is often the severely negative impact the ultimate sentence has on the client.

 

There is a tremendous benefit to having a Correctional Plan prepared by an independent professional Correctional Consultant.  The Correctional Consultant is trained in the collection and analysis of information pertinent to the evaluation of defendants and the various probabilities of a community based sentence versus a prison sentence.  The Correctional Consultant is trained in analyzing these probabilities objectively and independently and, based on these analyses, rendering a clear, well reasoned and just recommendation to the Court.

 

Failure to consider the aspect of sentencing throughout the formulation of a criminal defense plan is doing a disservice to the client and may result in overly harsh punitive sanctions that could have been mitigated or avoided altogether.