Everyone knows that criminal defendants who lose at trial face the possibility of a jail sentence. But the vast majority of defendants who end up in jail get there without ever going to trial.
There are numerous ways in which this happens:
If you are facing any of these scenarios and a jail sentence is possible, it’s absolutely essential that you present the court with some type of viable alternative to jail that is specifically tailored to your situation.
For example, say you are tendering a plea for a drug-possession charge. You have a history of drug charges and, in this case, the prosecutor is asking for direct jail time. You should go into the plea hearing ready to tell the judge where you will live if he lets you go and what treatment or services you can participate in to help you with your addiction.
If you are charged with domestic abuse and the prosecutor files a 58A motion to have you detained for “dangerousness”, you should have an alternative ready to provide to the judge. In many cases, the man in the accused aggressor. He often agrees to live with his parents or a friend during the pendency of the case, to stay a set distances away from the alleged victim (usually 100 yards or so) and to have his location monitored by a GPS device.
Defendants who are currently detained should make the most of the jail’s case workers who should assist inmates in finding post-detention treatment programs, sober houses, and employment opportunities.