Families of Prisoners Support Group
This community is dedicated to families that have been disrupted by prison. Having a loved one incarcerated or having been incarcerated comes with its own unique challenges that require support and understanding. Join the group to find others who know what you're going through, and to seek advice or share your experience.
Well, We had court on Thursday. The victim contact was finally received. She is an ex to my man. She and him have kids. She hates him with a passion and told them to prosecute him to the fullest extent. It did not go well. Why does she get so much power of what happens to him? She wrote to him in jail under the pretense of the letter being from an 8 yr old child. They haven't used that to his defense yet. They gave my man a deal idea. They drop all charges but a sexual 4th degree (for lightly brasing his ex during the commotion) and a violation of probation chrg. They said 5 years! That is crazy! Where can I find resources to help us? His bail is so high! I think its obnoxiously high and should be lowered. Any advise? I feel so bad. He wants me to bail him out. Its been 4 months. But that would include several co-signers .... I just don't know what I can do...
You said, "She told them to prosecute him to the fullest extent." She actually, at this point, has little input on how this case will be prosecuted, so the DA will do what he thinks is best.
You asked, "Why does she get so much power over what happens to him?" Trust me, the DA probably does not give a damn about this girl. He just wants a conviction with a plea, if possible. If she thinks that she is the DAs darling, she is sadly mistaken. The DA knows the charges are shaky and he knows he has a shaky witness. He is hoping that your guy will make it easy on him (the DA) and just plea bargain, which would make the DAs job easy, but he WILL go to trial if he needs to. But I can tell you that the DA does NOT want this to go to trial.
What were the contents of this letter she wrote him under false pretenses while he was in jail? Was she subtlety trying to get back with him or was this a hate letter? The fact that she wrote a letter, knowing it was breaking the rules, and involving the 8 year old child does not bode well for the prosecution.
The deal they offered your guy is not a very good deal at all. First, the fact that the charge they want him to plead to has a sexual component is just really rotten. If he pled to any crime with just a hint of sexual misconduct, he would probably wind up on the sex offender registry---and you sure as hell do not want that. That is a nightmare. All you have to do is go to the Daily Strength "Families of Sex Offender" board to get an idea of the hell the registry puts the entire family through. If he winds up on the registry, he most likely would not be allowed to live with you, as they would probably forbid him to have contact with children other than his own. This is an important point to remember.
So, no, if I were him, in this case, I would never plea to any charge involving sexual misconduct. Even if he goes to trial and loses, the jury will not find him guilty of sexual assault, I don't think. Jurors are not stupid and they can process events that involve human nature. It would be very difficult to get them to believe that your guy went over to her house and touched her in any sexual way, especially with the little boy standing right there. Didn't your guy have his child with him when he went over there? To commit a crime like that when he had his son with him is just not believable.
Jurors convict or acquit according to their past experiences in life. Many times they put themselves in the defendant's shoes and ask themselves if the state's case even makes sense.
You also have to take into consideration the venue here. This trial will be in Connecticut, which is a more liberal state than a state in the Bible Belt and jurors will be more likely to see that these charges are just BS. The DA knows this and he does not want to be embarrassed if he proceeds to trial with a waffling witness and the entire process makes him look foolish. Your guy would be much more likely to get convicted by a jury in a Bible Belt, "tough on crime, lock 'em up state," such as Oklahoma, Florida, or Georgia.
Five years is not a good deal. The deal will get better if your guy can wait them out. What is the maximum time your guy could get if he goes to trial? Is it much more than five years if they found him guilty?
Also I personally would rather do five years in prison and have no sex offender registry to deal with than have no prison time and a lifetime on the sex offender registry. Yes, the registry is that bad.
Yes, I am sure your lawyers want to take this to trial, as they think the witness is weak and they have a very winnable case. BUT, BUT sometimes unexpected things happen at a trial. If the witness can get on the witness stand and tell a sensible story---with some sniffles and a few crocodile tears----your guy could get convicted. That is why I wanted to know how much time he is looking at if he does get convicted at trial; I wanted to get an idea of the worst case scenario.
But your guy's attorneys must be reasonably sure that she will never survive a vigorous cross-examination. If they thought that your guy had no chance at trial, they would be screaming for him to plea. They have not done that.
If I were his defense attorney, I would hold her letter in my hand and wave it around while emphasizing that the letter is just an example of her conniving nature and she did not even have the decency to NOT involve her 8 year old son. And don't think for a minute I wouldn't bring up the fact that it just does not make common sense for a guy to bring his 8 year old son along to assault the child's mother.
Now if it goes to trial, you can bet that the DA will somehow get it into evidence that he has a prior conviction---and that would not be good. Juries do not like guys with a previous record.
The five year plea, especially with the sexual component to it, is just not acceptable. The DA can and will do better.
So I have given you the pros and cons of this case as you have relayed to me. If I were your guy, no, I would most certainly not accept any deal of five years which would include the sex offender registry. And be careful, even if the plea bargain states that he will not have to register, he probably will. The only way to be certain that registration is not part of this picture is for the DA to reduce the charges to charges that do not require registration.
With the letter against her, I don't think a decent jury will buy all her story. There are too many holes in her story.
But your guy has a prior conviction involving her, so that might balance it out.
I hope things work out well.
Keep in touch,
rewdiazepam
"When you lie down with dogs, you get fleas."
This little skeezer is the dog in this case and your guy is experiencing the fleas.
Stay away from this little trollop. She is nothing but trouble.
rewdiazepam