If the case against is strong then there is little chance the same offer will be given twice.

The defendant always has the choice to plead guilty or no contest but there are no restrictions on what the sentencing will include.

If the case is a he said she said or involves a pre-pubescent child then the prospect of a better offer may be a possibility to spare the child from testifying in open court or on videotape. However, the sentence may be mandatory in the jurisdiction of the prosecution and there may be restrictions against a lesser included offense rather than the major crime felony conviction.

If you are in California there may be options to a plea and not have to register.

This is in Iowa. And it is a pre-pubescent child, he-said she-said case.

You are facing the same delima a lot of us have. Admit to something even if it is not true for a deal (light sentence) or take a trial. ( Risk a very long sentance). It is even worse if you care for the kid draged through the legal system. This is the old rock and a hard place , the choice between two evils. The Courts are not working for justice and do not care about integrity..About 95% of all convictions in the United States are secured with a guilty plea most of them through plea bargaining.

Below is a University of Michigan Law School pdf that is very interisting.

http://law.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1030&context=umichlwps&sei-redir=1#search="plea+bargaining+statistics"

another great article.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/31672/plea_bargaining_in_the_criminal_justice.html

Thanks, Red. The second link worked, but the first one didn't. What should I google to find the article?

A lot of times, it's all according to who the prosecutor is. Also, what the statute says. For instance, I had a Statutory Rape charge in Ga. The plea offer was 10 years and I turned it down. They showed me that Ga law tied the hands of the judges and prosecutors and that the Statutes would not allow me to be sentenced to less than 10 years. So, of course I ended up taking the 10 years. Another example: In 1998 I had a Burglary charge in Florida. The plea deal was 40 months in prison. I turned it down. Well, the prosecutor turned out to be a maniac and he went up to 7 1/2 years and refused to come back down. I was guilty though and therefore should've taken what I was offered. Either way, what I'm saying is that it all depends. I'm a law abiding citizen now, praise God, but in my younger years I was in and out. I even accepted a plea deal for probation once and when we got in front of the judge he refused it.

I agree with DannyBoy,
It is only a "recommendation" to a plea by the prosecutor. Ultimately, the sentence and the conviction lies in the law and the judges lap. A lot of times, the judges hands are tied as well. It's best to research the law that is being charged. Research what the sentence minimums are and what stipulations the judge can or can not rule. Basically, if the law says that robbery requires a 5 year sentence, than the judge MUST obey the law. Your attorney can ask for a lesser charge for the crime, but it all depends on how the prosecutor charges the individual as to what the law states to sentencing. Remember, the judge MUST follow sentencing law.

My partner turned down a plea 3 times, but after the judge denied all of his motions he finally accepted the plea deal. 10 years instead of the very real possibility of 25 to life. His plea was a binding plea - meaning that if the Judge does not sentence him to the 10 years, his guilty plea is automatically withdrawn and we proceed to trial. For us, it was making a deal with the devil. He did not do what he was accused of, but the plea means that he will have be able to walk out the door in 7 more years.

Thanks to you all for your responses.

RWsMom, I will definitely do the research you recommend. How do I go about that, though. Do I have to go to a law library in that state? I hope not, because it's a 6 hour drive from my home. Can I do this online? If so, where do I start?

Honest -- Many states post their statutes online (not sure if it's called the same in every state, but in Maine and NH the statutes are contained in encyclopedic book volumes known as "revised statutes annotated," or RSA, and are posted online), perhaps under a link on the state government's web site. You can check your loved one's court documents (probably the indictment is your best bet) to find the specific statute number used to charge your loved one, and look it up in the RSA using the number -- it may be expressed in the format 123:A:1, where 123 is the general statute and A and 1 are subsections that deal specifically with your loved one's alleged offense . It can get very involved because there can be many sections within a statute, and they might refer to other parts of the RSA that delineate things like the sentencing ranges for various classifications of offenses or definitions of various terms, but it can also be educational. If you don't have copies of the court documents to find the statute, anything that's public record would be in his file at the courthouse that has jurisdiction over his case, but that doesn't help you if it's that far away. It might be online, but that varies from state to state. However, a call to the court clerk's office might help -- I'd think they could tell you the statute over the phone, although it might depend how busy the courthouse is. If you call, ask to speak with whichever clerk is responsible for criminal cases. Or, I guess you could just ask his lawyer what the statute is.