Great site; I wish I had come accross it sooner, one question and a statment.
In 1994 my wife and I had a dispute over money I took out of the bank to bury my mother, the conversation became argumentative, in my effort to silence the matter, I wrongfully covered her mouth from the driver seat of my car, in the process, my thumbnail scratched her chin, without breaking it, she cried, I apologized and gave her my sad expression of why I did it. two days later, she told me she spoke with law enforcement that came to her job, a co worker with a long history of domestic problems had called them after my wife mentioned it to her, she said they took a report, we didnt hear anything else about it until 1997 a traffic stop exposed the charges that had been filed against me.
Thank God it wasnt a felony charge, I thought sitting out the weekend on the charge would grant my freedom come court day, my court appointed attorney right away came into the holding cell offering a deal, my chin hit the floor when he mentioned six months in the county jail, 52 weeks of classes, 30 days of community service, restitution, and probation. Right away I hired a attorney, I eventually plead out to 30 days with time served, 30 hours of community service, and 32 weeks of the classes, because I was actually guilty of what I thought I was being accused of. I just got a copy of my own background check and the charges were listed in a catagory of someone committing attempted murder. had I known that in advance, I would not have accepted the deal.
I am currently in the process of having it removed from my record.
Now my question is this: had I not had the means to defend myself to the level that did, the likely outcome would have been much worse.
The Public Defender was obviously working with the District Attorney, the stated event was much harsher then the actual occurance and the punishment was cruel and unusual, in comparison, it was a first offense, have never happened since, and I cant help but imagine the statistical numbers mentioned earlier being based on convictions of individuals that were sold out by the Public Defenders office, or those too afraid to face trial when the have a prior history of DV or other felony conviction,
Remember the 3 strike law in California has gobbled up major victories over individuals that are no real threat to society, and during my weekend stay, I heard many cases of threat by 3 strikes, for long term plea agreements.
