By: CHRIS BLANKINSHIP, ESQ.

I recently spent a full day at the Airport Courthouse in the West District of Los Angeles helping a friend who had been charged with a misdemeanor. I have never been charged with an offense, nor have I ever been on the defendant side of a lawsuit, so this was a new experience. A few things happened I feel are worth sharing so others in similar situations won’t feel lost.

For those who have never been to court, consider yourself lucky. The first thing that happened was the Bailiff stood up to tell us to expect to be there all day. Although some people would be called early to settle their cases, most would not. He was right. My friend wasn’t called until the end of the day. He was never given any indication as to when he may be called, nor was a schedule provided by the court. So, we waited and watched.

The first thing I noticed is that most people were not represented by private attorneys. The criminal defense attorneys who did show up were usually unaccompanied by their clients. These attorneys were generally successful in delaying their clients sentencing, thus buying their clients additional weeks and months of freedom.

The important lesson learned from the day was when my friend finally met with his public defender. He learned the DA wanted to charge him with grand theft, put him in jail for 10 days, give him three years probation and 20 days of community service. Ouch. His “little mistake” suddenly turned into a life changing nightmare. He paced slowly backed to me and told me the DA’s terms. I knew to expect a punishment for what he had done but this seemed overwhelming. I could understand probation, but jail time for a first time offender? I encouraged him to tell the defender the terms were unacceptable and to see if the DA would consider lowering the sentence. What happened next was absolutely shocking.

After a few minutes my friend much more gingerly returned to me to tell me not only were they dropping the jail time, but the offense was being lowered to “misappropriation of lost goods.” This was a crime I never knew existed, and definitely sounded better than grand theft. By simply asking for a lighter sentence, my friend was able to avoid jail time. He hadn’t negotiated, he didn’t offer additional evidence, he just asked, and successfully plea bargained. He tried his luck once more but was told the last offer was final, and that not settling may result in a stricter sentence. It was hard to believe the defender didn’t know exactly how the case would turn out, but my friend had no desire to test his luck further.

I’m curious to know whether any of our readers have had similar experiences. If so, did you try to negotiate with the public defender or did you take the first offer? If you didn’t settle, was the punishment you ultimately received more or less severe than originally offered? Did anyone else find their time spent at court negotiating their sentence was similar to negotiating the price of a lamp at a garage sale? Please leave your comments below.