The offer that was made before trial is usually a relevant component of a misdemeanor sentence after conviction at trial. If the prosecutor was offering something light, then why are they now asking for something worse at trial? If it doesn't have anything to do with new information that came out during trial that paints the defendant in a worse light, then the judges here take seriously their constitutional obligation to avoid taxing the defendant for taking his case to trial.A. Nony Mouse wrote:I know this is just a tiny part of your post, but this is so weird to me.Tanicius wrote:Most of the time in my jurisdiction, losing at trial for a misdemeanor will still get you a better sentence than the sentence asked for the prosecutor as part of a plea deal.
Half the time the prosecutors' offers are bad anyway, so the judges perfectly understand why someone took the case to trial even when they expected to lose.
It's a completely different world with felonies and the mandatory minimums that come into play for trial convictions but not plea agreements, so the prosecutor has discretion to offer something before trial that is lower than the mandatory minimum. If you take a felony to trial here, you're looking at more time, typically.