By District Attorney Ryan Sayers
2023 Vol. 25
Last week I posed two questions that are regularly asked of me that relate to prosecutorial discretion.
This week I am going to discuss the second of those questions — “why did _______ get the plea offer that he/she did?”
As I stated before, the district attorney and every prosecutor have a duty to seek justice, not just convictions.
In every criminal case, the prosecutor has to determine what is fair and just to not only the defendant, but also the victim(s) and society.
Some aspects of that determination by prosecutors are pretty straight forward. As we discussed at the start of the year, the Pennsylvania Sentencing Guidelines provide the sentencing range for every crime and prosecutors, defendants and judges have to apply those guidelines in every criminal case.
Additionally, prosecutors are to take the will of the victim(s) into consideration when deciding how to resolve a criminal case.
One element that prosecutors take into consideration that we have not discussed yet is the ramification of certain charges on a defendant’s life going forward.
Such as — is it fair and just that, in addition to incarceration, probation, fines, costs and restitution, that someone also loses their profession for a year or the rest of their life? Sometimes the answer is absolutely ‘yes.’
However, there are times that it is not fair or just. One example is when a DUI in a personal car will cost a truck driver his/her CDL license for a year.
Is it fair for a defendant’s spouse and children to lose their home and go without food because of a decision the defendant made?
Would it be more equitable to have the defendant have a criminal record, keep his license and be able to work to provide for his family and pay all of the fines, costs and any restitution? Sometimes yes, sometimes no – in other words, it all depends on the case.
Another example is when a veteran or disabled person is supposed to get probation or a few days in jail pursuant to the Sentencing Guidelines for one charge, but he/she will lose his/her military or disability benefits if convicted of that certain crime.
Is it fair and just to proceed on that specific charge or is it more equitable that the veteran or disabled person plea to a different charge and get the same probation or jail time, but he/she will not lose his/her benefits?
These are a couple of the scenarios that prosecutors have to make on a daily and case-by-case basis when looking at the totality of the circumstances.
No two cases are identical and there are many considerations that go into resolving a criminal case by plea or through a trial.
Next week is the halfway point in the year (week 26). In that article, I am going summarize prosecutorial discretion and everything that has been discussed so far this year before moving on to the second half of 2023.
Ryan Sayers is the elected District Attorney of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania.
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