It doesn't sound to me as if this Harvey Waiver is a good idea.

With the Harvey Waiver, even though the court dropped all the charges except one, he can still be held liable to the charges that were dismissed. That could be a disaster as far as restitution is concerned. He might wind up paying restitution on all the charges, even the ones dismissed.

Frankly, I did not know what a Harvey Waiver was, so I did some research on the internet.

Here is what I found----------

""""If you agree to a Harvey Waiver, you allow the court to sentence you for a charge that’s been dismissed. That’s right. Normally you have a right to be sentenced only for a charge you have pled guilty to or been convicted of. A Harvey Waiver waives that right. One of the charges will be “officially” dropped, but the sentence you would have received is added to your sentence for the charge that wasn’t dismissed. If you agree to a Harvey Waiver, you’ll have to pay the same fines and restitution that would have been part of the sentence for the dismissed charge.""""

A Harvey waiver allows the court to consider dismissed charges during sentencing.

Here is an real life example of a Harvey Waiver-----

"""Suppose you were detained by law enforcement because you vandalized someone's property. During the course of being detained, you got stupid and assaulted the officer.

The DA or the Court might dismiss (and Harvey waive) the vandalism charge in exchange for your plea to assaulting the officer. That way, the Court could find you guilty of the assault and also consider the vandalism during the punishment (so that you could be ordered to pay fines that would be used for fixing the vandalism, for example).""""

If I were your guy, I would have a long talk with my attorney. His attorney can explain all the pros and cons of a Harvey Waiver. DO NOT sign something you do not understand.

rewdiazepam

H3LPM3 he will probably have the Hare Psychopathy test, maybe even with the static 2002-R and the LSI-R, many evaluations range from around $1500 to $2500. all the test are done to determine risk factors.

Regards
buildingupslow

A positive mental examination to show that he is at low risk to re-offend is always a big plus. Some judges put more weight on these evaluations than others, but some are impressed by an evaluation done by a third party professional. I talked to a judge once and he said he always takes into consideration any positive report by a health professional, as he respects them and their work.

Others can give you more advice, as I was never on probation or had a mental evaluation, but I would think it would be well worth the money. Hell, if it just knocks two years off his sentence, it would be worth the money.

Someone else can jump in here and talk about the cost of these evaluations.

rewdiazpam

Do people do these evaluations before or after a plea or when they are getting ready for a PSI?

Rew,
His attorney is telling him that Harvey Waiver is something that is normally done over there. But it just doesn't sound right to me. I guess will have to talk to the lawyer on what the pros and cons are for the waiver.

Psalm34amen, I do not know about your state but here in Texas, they will be given before sentencing in cases where the victim was very young, the Static 2002 is given when being placed on probation ( sometimes by the PO) and the Sex-offender treatment provider will most times do the risk evaluation after being placed on probation. Like the Hare and LSI. Here what ever your risk eval says will follow you forever.

Your husband would need to have the mental health eval before sentencing. That will help the judge determine his risk of reoffending.

I would also have to agree with Rew, I wouldn't agree to that plea deal. I would tell his attorney you won't agree to a Harvey waiver.

@h3lpm3,

The Harvey Waiver sounds to me as a way to give a guy many more punitive measures than he is made to believe. I don't like the idea of potentially punished for charges that have been dropped via plea deal.

Regarding his plea, can't they be more specific on the amount of prison time? Can't the DA and his defense attorney agree on a specific sentence instead of the range of 3/6/8 years? There is a helluva lot of difference between three years and eight years in prison.

The very purpose of a plea is to allow the defendant to know what his sentence will be, providing the judge signs off on it.

I think someone needs to point these fears out to his attorney.

@psalms,

You would want the evaluation done before sentencing and probably before a plea is negotiated. If he could get a positive evaluation even before the plea, it might help in his negotiations with the prosecutor.


Another thing I want to point out to everyone here. I don't know what professions administer these evaluations----a therapist, a licensed psychologist, or a psychiatrist----but I have heard people mention that it matters who does the evaluation. Some of these professions hold much more weight than others with judges, so keep that in mind.

rewdiazepam

My son got a psych evaluation while waiting for sentencing. It cost me $2500. Yes, you would have to pay for evaluations, forensics or ploys.
But my son's evaluation got the judge to change his sex offender treatment to just mental treatment so it was worth it. I'm assuming mental evaluation is the same as the one my son took.

If it's for cp it's really good to get your own forensics as well.

Nak

Rew,
I honestly don't know how the plea deal works. I know he was looking at a lot of more time before they dropped his other charges. But doesn't the judge has the absolute final say in sentencing on what he gets?? I remember looking up the California PC and with what he is getting charged it was either the 3/6/8. I know it makes a lot of difference and I honestly want to know what is the pro and cons of this but his attorney won't answer the dang phone!

Plea deals are supposed to be fixed where both parties---the state and the defense----benefit.

The DA does not have to do through the ordeal of a trial, spending a lot of resources going to trial. If there is a child victim, the child will not be put through the ordeal of testifying. If the DA is not sure he has enough evidence to win at trial, then a plea deal at least gives him a win as he is getting a conviction.

The defendant also does not have to go to trial and risk a much harsher sentence should he be found guilty. In exchange for a guilty plea, the DA will offer the defendant a much more reasonable sentence than if he lost at trial. The DA will usually drop all the charges but one charge as an added incentive for the defendant to plea bargain.

Theoretically, everyone wins in a plea deal. The prosecutor gets a sure win, the defendant gets a reduced sentence with most of the charges dropped, and both sides do not have to go to trial.

But the judge is the final arbiter and his word is final regarding the sentence. As a result, he is under no obligation to accept any plea deal worked out by the state and the defense. He can issue his own sentence as long as it is within the parameters of the state statutes.

Most pleas are agreements in which the length of the sentence is fixed, but that is not always the case. Have you asked your guy what the exact provisions are regarding the amount of time he is to serve in prison?

Personally, I would want to know how much time I would spend in prison. And I don't like the idea of that Harvey Waiver, but again, this might be the best deal the DA is willing to offer. The DA might not offer a deal without the Harvey Waiver.

I hope this has clarified things for you.

rewdaizepam

Nak,
$2500 sounds pretty good to me! His lawyer said that his evaluation is going to cost us $5000. Ow I am just trying to see where I'm going to get that money. And he didn't get caught with CP..it was for molesting his stepdaughter. However they did do forensics on our home computer and his cellphone and didn't find anything on there.

Rew,
Thank you for your help. Just finished talking to my husband. And he did understand the Harvey waiver. It was pretty much the only deal the DA would give him. Originally she wanted to give him a charge with a max of 16 years. Thank goodness his lawyer came back with a counter offer. His lawyer also says the person that does his evaluation is One of the best there in the Fresno area. So we will see. I'm just hoping that this could move along. His next court date is April 10.