What a guilty plea provides is some type of certainty . Generally, the accused person will know what charges they will enter a plea to and what the likely sentence will be (although the Judge does have the final say). A guilty plea will also end a matter and alleviate stress . A plea is also mitigating as it shows remorse and prevents the complainants from having to testify . The downside, however, is that pleading guilty will result in a finding of guilt and, unless the Judge granted a discharge , a criminal record.

The best possible result is for criminal matters to be withdrawn or for a charged person to be acquitted after trial. It is often worthwhile to take a case to trial even when the Crown’s evidence is very strong. The Crown must prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt , and it happens quite often that they cannot do this at trial. It often happens that on the day of trial a better plea plea deal is offered to the accused person . In many cases , while this is not always the case, the sentence after pleading guilty may not be better than the likely sentence after being found guilty at trial, so there is no legal downside. It can take a year or longer to get to trial from the point an individual is arrested.

Only an accused person can decide if they want to plead or go to trial. A lawyer can present the options and potential outcomes, but no lawyer can make the decision for an accused person person charged . In the experience of Toronto Criminal Lawyer Adam Goodman , taking matters to trial tends to result in better results for the client.

Learn more about the Criminal Court Process in Toronto, Ontario, and the criminal charge of domestic assault.

The Decision On Whether To Plead Guilty Or Not is a post from: WiredWriter