In some Virginia cases, defense counsel negotiates for the prosecuting attorney to remain silent and not make any argument at all regarding the sentence to be imposed, or perhaps not to oppose an argument made by defense counsel. There is no guarantee that the Court will accept the recommended sentence.
#IMPOSITION OF SENTENCE HOW TO#
In situations where a prosecuting attorney is involved, the prosecuting attorney will generally make a proposal / offer to the accused or defense counsel regarding how to resolve the case by agreement, rather than having a trial. Some jursiditions don't use prosecuting attorneys at all for these cases, other jurisdictions use prosecuting attorneys only for cases in which the accused has a lawyer and other jurisdictions use prosecuting attorneys for all of these cases.
![imposition of sentence imposition of sentence](https://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/f156ca7d76eedab2f4c9b02a9f849e54/image-29.jpg)
In Virginia, many of the misdemeanor criminal cases and traffic offense cases which are heard in Virginia's General District Courts and Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Courts can be handled without a prosecuting attorney. Your Virginia defense attorney will be able to explain whether your case is the type of case which can be handled in this manner, and if so, what the risks and benefits of choosing to do so are. When cases are handled in this fashion, the defendant must typically remain of uniform good behavior, pay court costs, complete counseling of some sort (substance abuse, anger management, shoplifting, etc) and perform a certain number of hours of public and community service work. Virginia law allows courts to delay making a decision in certain cases for a period of time and to give the defendant an opportunity to fulfill certain conditions which, if successfully completed, could result in the charge being amended, reduced or dismissed at some point in the future. Deferred Prosecution / Suspended Imposition of Sentence Your Virginia defense attorney will be able to discuss the likely hood of Nolle Porsequi in Virginia. Either of these can happen for any number of reasons, including insufficient evidence of your guilt, absence of a necessary witness, subsequent compliance with a relatively minor violation, or because it is part of a negotiated plea agreement. In some cases, the judge may decide to dismiss the charge against you. The latin term for this decision by the government not to prosecute a case is nolle prosequi.
![imposition of sentence imposition of sentence](https://aisles.com.au/s/bx_posts_photos_resized/n5b8pphd92ay5t4wtazuntpyhrjqdehf.jpeg)
In a small number of cases, the prosecuting attorney actually agrees not to prosecute the case and asks the Court do dismiss the charge.
![imposition of sentence imposition of sentence](https://www.dwicriminallawcenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Suspended-Imposition-of-Sentence-Missouri-Background-Check.jpg)
In every case involving a prosecuting attorney, there is at least some discussion exploring the possibility of resolving the matter by agreement without a trial. Below is a discussion about some of the possible types of outcomes once your case gets to court in Virginia: Dismissal or Nolle Prosequi Hire me because you think I can have an impact on shaping the future.Īlthough guaranteeing or making a prediction about specific results in any particular case is essentially impossible, and therefore unethical and should be avoided, lawyers should discuss the various types of outcomes which are possible. My response is always the same: Don't hire me because you think I can predict the future. "What can you do for me?" "How is this case going to turn out?" "You've been doing this a long time, so what do you think is going to happen?" Or my favorite, "I know you can't predict the future, but can you tell me how you think my case will end up?" Perhaps the most common question I get is some version of what I call the crystal ball question.