I got over 23 character references which were so well written many of whom had known him since he was born and some from friends and work collegues including myself and my ex husband,I also got the chance to speak at the sentancing. It was a Federal court and I believe the Judge had pressure from the prosecution to issue the top end of the so called 'plea bargain' . I cannot say what difference it may make to your husbands case as they are.' all different' with different judges. In my sons case it made no difference and he got 30yrs ! .

Dear ND....
3 yrs ago in a Federal court in Augusta GA.. I spoke before the judge prior my son's sentencing.
I spoke on his many redeeming qualities such as an oustanding student in HS...his military service including 3 tours to the Persian Gulf and on and on. I did emphasize we were not condoning his conduct (he was convicted for 1 count of co receipt-he had 6 short videos of under 18 yrs old).
The judge listened....then sentenced him to 15 yrs in prison!!
Did our pleas help? I doubt it seriously...it seems everyone a cp case comes up no matter the circumstances are or the character of the accused they are all viewed as p.o.s.'s in the eyes of the court.
So should you speak on his behalf? Absolutely..!! Will it make a difference? Don't hold your breath. But maybe just maybe you will get a judge who can think for himself and sentence him fairly.
Oh by the way...,as an added "bonus" we pleaded with the judge to have him serve out his sentence ina facillity somewhere close....yeah....he is 11hrs away-one-way....

ND,

Whether it helps depends on the judge. Some judges don't care, and will punish severely regardless. Some judges don't care, and will punish leniently regardless. But some judges do care, and such things can matter. Another benefit: if the judge is inclined to give a lenient sentence, and is looking for some good justification that will stand up to scrutiny if the prosecution claims on appeal that the sentence was too low, your statement might provide some of that justification.

I highly doubt you will be subject to any questions by the prosecution (I've never seen that happen), and typically judges won't ask too many questions, if they even ask any. Your attorney will know the judge's reputation, and can thus tell you if he is likely to ask anything. I'd also be sure to check with your attorney to determine if there is anything the judge does not like to hear, and make sure you avoid saying it. For instance, I knew one judge who was quite fair but would get angry if a relative called the crime a "mistake," such as by saying "My son committed a terrible mistake." He interpreted "mistake" to mean that it wasn't intentional, rather than that it was intentional but a bad choice that will not be repeated. So check with your lawyer so you know if this judge has any such pet peeves.

Finally, review your proposed testimony with your attorney. Generally, you want to be brief. Do not condone or minimize the crime. Acknowledge it, and say how much you all feel terrible about it and sorry for the victims. Then discuss your relative as a human being. Highlight specific examples if possible, rather than just saying generally that he is good or kind--specific examples typically carry more weight. Also, make sure the judge knows that if the sentence is not harsh, when your relative is released, he will have a very supportive family waiting to help him integrate and keep him on the straight and narrow.

Adam

Good advice, Adam. We were fortunate that of the 5 Circuit Court judges, we got the one who was most lenient. Our lawyer said that had another one of the judges been selected, my husband would have gotten a life sentence without the judge even considering any of the testimony. Instead, he got 5 years. Everyone wants to think that justice = fair, but that is far from the case. Nothing is fair. You just have to educate yourself as much as possible, try to make the best choices possible, pray lots, and forgive as needed. If you do the best you know how, that is all you can do.

ND - Is your husband going in with a plea agreement or an open plea? That will make a difference. The judge's hands are pretty much tied with an agreement. I did testify at sentencing, but not really to his character. I did get questioned by the prosecutor, but it was just so she could hear herself talk. :)

The judge who sentenced my husband read every letter and even spoke to several of them during sentencing. Both of my children (16 & 23 at the time), his ex-wife, and our sister-in-law that was abused herself as a child were spoke to. He completely threw out 2g2.2 and sentenced my husband to 36 months, but then had to re-sentence to the 5 year mm. The guideline sentence was 18-22 years. It is all in the judges hands. My husband got 5 years supervised release and only 7 items for his conditional supervision when released. That's pretty much unheard of for sex offenders.

Good luck to both of you!!

My husband took a plea deal. It's for CP possession, the receipt was dismissed. The prosecution is asking for the full 10 years, my husband is not allowed to argue for less then 5 years, however the judge can sentence anywhere in the 0-10 year range. My husband's lawyer told us yesterday that my husband is going to jail, that it's highly unlikely the judge will sentence below the 5 years and it's likely it could be more. I don't know why he feels that way, except to think it may have to do with my husband not being able to ask for less then 5 years. My husband's lawyer will be submitting the sentencing memo this coming week, once he does, he plans to contact the prosecution to see if they will lighten up, he says he doubts they will, but he's going to try, otherwise he says our hands our tied.

I wrote a support letter awhile ago that will be included in the sentencing package. In that letter I addressed my husband's character. I wrote a letter I plan to read when I testify, unless my husband's lawyer says no, I would just rather read something then to just get up and talk. I know I will be nervous and when I get nervous, I 'm afraid I will end up babbling and totally not address what I had hoped to. I plan to talk more about my husband's mental issues, something I didn't address much in my character letter and my husband's mental state is something that is big in his case, plus I focused on the progress he's made since the Feds came into our home over a year ago, along with asking for alternative sentencing. My husband can't ask for less then 5 years, but nothing says I can't. I also stated my reasons why I felt an alternative sentence was justifiable.

I just feel so defeated. I knew no jail was a long shot, but my husband's lawyer sounded so certain that he was looking at least 5 years on up for jail time. I just feel that if the lawyer feels that's the case, why bother to even try any more. The courthouse is 2 hours one way for us to travel, and it's at least that if not more time for family/friends to travel, we are bending over backwards to get people there for sentencing and I'm feeling like what's the point if he's going to get this amount of time anyway. We are supposed to talk with the lawyer on Monday, so I'm hoping to ask more questions. I don't believe our lawyer has ever tried a case in front of this judge because this judge is in a different district then where our lawyer tries most of his cases, I'm guessing he has asked around about this judge, but I really don't know what he's going off of. But, I plan on asking questions come Monday because I want some answers.

ND,

I'm really sorry to hear all of this. I will, however, say that dismissing the receipt charge is a good thing, better than a lot of people are able to get. It doesn't mean that the outcome changes, but it means it is possible. Receipt is a minimum of 5 and a max of 20. Possession is no minimum, and 10 max. These are all terribly high numbers, but much better that 10 be the highest, and 0 the lowest, than 5 and 20.

I would check with your lawyer about your idea to ask for some different sentence, just to be sure. If there is any way that the judge might construe it as an indirect breach of the plea agreement, you don't want to run that risk. So please check with him first.

As for making the effort to show up and get everyone else to--you must. I know it may come to nothing, but it may come to something, even if its a little. And you don't want to have to wonder if it would have made a difference.

Adam

Thanks for all the advice Adam. I truly do appreciate it! Will definately check with our attorney on Monday about me asking for a different sentence just to make sure that doesn't cause further problems. Thanks again for all of your advice!!

ndmarie - My husband got 5 for receipt. I know your pain and anxiety of the unknown. Do you know what the pre-sentence report recommends? Have you seen any sentences the judge has handed down in the past?

My husband's was 18-22 years. I have seen a lot of cases of possession or receipt in the 5-9 year range. I have seen very little probation or the 1-5 year range for internet CP. The one case in Iowa for probation for possession cost the $500,000 to bring in 20 some experts. A lot of the enticement charges, chatting with a cop seems to get less time, but much more supervised release (25 years to life for many). I am so happy these days that we got 5 years and 5 years supervised release. Most get 10-25 years supervision with others getting lifetime.

Adam is right, fill the court room with as many people as you can in your husband's support. We drove to another state and still had 15 people at all court hearings. That in itself says a lot about who he is. Even 5 years over 9 years is a huge difference in the end! The added 2 years in our case because of the stupid mm, is almost unbearable sometimes. He would be home for Christmas this year if we got the original sentence.

Idilling,

The pre sentence report only went by the sentencing guidelines formula, however he did request for a downward departure, but didn't really give an actual recommendation of a sentence. He mainly put in the facts(such as the outcome using the guideline formula and then what downward departures could be utilized) for the judge to consider.

As for the judge, he has given two cases(that I'm aware of) since 2010 supervised release on possession charges, the first being in 2010 the guy was given 1 year in a halfway house and then 10 years supervised release. The 2nd guy was this past October, he was given 10 years supervised release, the first year being on house arrest(on electronic bracelet and only allowed to go to and from work and dr's appointments) along with 250 hours of community service to be completed in 5 years. However, with that said, another guy this past January got 6 1/2 years prison, but then again his case also included accusations of a contact crime in addition to the CP charges, so that may have had contributed to the sentence. Honestly, with this judge, it's hard to say, he doesn't seem to go specifically light or specifically on the harsher side. I've seen him go both ways, so I'm hoping that means he truly takes into consideration everything instead of automatically sentencing based on the charge.

When you spoke at your husband's sentencing, did you just get up and speak or did you read something you had prepared ahead of time. I haven't had a chance to speak to our lawyer on this, but I had a friend who suggested that me reading something I wrote probably wasn't a good idea, that I should just get up their and speak from my heart, that it would be more meaningful. Any thoughts on this?

ND,

A very conservative judge would likely never give those sentences. That fact that this one has means there is a chance. Not a guaranty; there is never such a thing in this business, and you should never get hopes up. But it means that you need to do everything possible to ensure that you give this judge reason to exercise his discretion favorably. Anything below the prosecutor's request is a good outcome, relatively speaking.

As for reading a statement vs. speaking from the heart, I understand the dilemma. Reading can be stale but careful and planned, speaking can be genuine and impactful but easily veer off course. Rambling and saying something bad is a real danger, and if you have that tendency, take it seriously. If so, I might consider a mixture. For the important stuff you need to script and get across, read from the paper. At the end, for a few sentences, speak from the heart (though do try to rehearse what you will say or at least have some key phrases in big font on a paper that will remind you of what you want to say without actually dictating the exact content). Ask your lawyer to tap you on the back, as though trying to give you emotional support, if he thinks you are getting off course.

These are just suggestions. Think about them, talk with your lawyer, and decide what will work best for you and your family.

Adam

Did you get to ask your questions to your attorney today? When do you go to court?

there is nothing in your husbands past, I would guess this particular judge may give the 5 years that is in the agreement. He is obviously lenient in sentencing and the guy who got 6 years probably had some kind of prior. That is just my opinion of course, but our judge had been lenient in the past as well, and he believes in the first amendment. We were told by my husbands attorney to not ask for any time, just ask for leniency. Boy did we get that!!

I actually had to testify. I was questioned by my attorney, but a lot of it came around to his character. I wouldn't have been put on the stand except he had my camera with my pictures of my friends kids on it. They printed about that in the paper to make him look bad. So I had to testify it was my camera and blah blah. But it did give the attorney a chance to get a real person behind my letter. The prosecutor only said something that I had said in my letter as him being a computer geek or something to that effect. I really believe the judge had his mind made up before we go there. He listened to what I said, but made it obvious that he really didn't care.

Adam & Idilling

Thank you both for all of the input, it really has given me an idea of what to expect. After reading what you both have written, I'm starting to think me asking for an alternative sentencing may be a bit much. I wrote what I felt was an amazing character letter that will be submitted as well, in the letter the most I asked for was leniency. I hate for my letter to get disregarded by me taking that risk of asking for alternative sentencing and ticking the judge off. Will ask more of our attorney about it, but that is kind of what I'm thinking.

We weren't able to get in touch with our attorney today, hopefully tomorrow. We go to court March 1st.

ndmarie, i so hope you get the best possible outcome. i am hoping that the more lenient the judges become, the easier it will be to convince the sentencing commission to back off of these exagerated mandatory sentences, dreaming maybe.....but you never know.

you will do fine, but i do wonder how many judges already have their mind made up, i think my son's did. GOOD LUCK!

Jackie - I often have wondered how many judges already have their mind made up before you even walk in there. I'm probably putting way more pressure on myself then I should be concerning what I will say in court that day, it probably won't matter much anyway if the judge already has his mind made up. I said what I needed to in my character reference letter to the judge, hopefully that will be enough.