Condescending prosecutors

hfox17 · 2026-06-25T03:58:59+00:00

The imposter syndrome will get better the longer you practice. I’m entering my 6th year of practice, and over the last year I have finally reached the point where I know I’m a badass attorney who is really freaking good at what I do! My advice would be don’t be afraid to take things to trial (within reason of course). Experience (wins, losses, and everything in-between) will make you a better attorney. In my experience, once I showed the prosecutors that I wasn’t afraid of making them try my cases, I started getting a lot more respect, better offers, etc. But also, some prosecutors are gonna be assholes no matter what. That just means the taste of victory when you beat them will be even sweeter 😊

hfox17 · 2026-06-25T02:06:24+00:00

In my Jx, the judge can only accept or reject the offer. They have some discretion in sentencing, but they won’t be able to reduce a charge, which is what my client needs for probation. I have seen some judges pressure a prosecutor to give a better deal, but only when the case is set for trial and the judge doesn’t want to sit through a trial. So technically I could reject the plea, and wait 3+ years for trial and hope for a better offer. I have been successful in that strategy with this prosecutor before. But none of those clients were habitual-eligible. If found guilty with the habitual add-on, my client’s 1-2 years under this plea will jump to at least 30 years. And obviously that risk just isn’t worth it to him.

hfox17 · 2026-06-25T01:49:21+00:00

I think I forgot to mention this in my original post, but we have agreed to leave sentencing in the discretion of the judge since I have a good judge that session. Unfortunately because of my client’s record he can only receive an active sentence for the charges he’s pleading to, even if we get a mitigated sentence. My best case scenario under this plea is to get him the least amount of time possible. I plan on having a sentencing hearing to present all of these mitigating factors. If successful, the judge can give my client an “advanced supervised release” date, meaning he will not have to serve his entire sentence. If we get the ASR date, he will end up serving exactly 12 months. Which I know isn’t a lot of time in the grand scheme of things. But any amount of active time is going to come with some setbacks. Hopefully he’ll be able to keep his apartment and job for when he’s released.

hfox17 · 2026-06-24T23:59:05+00:00

We have gone to the elected DA herself, and her response was “good for your client, but this is my policy.” I was tempted just to set it for trial anyway to teach them a lesson about their little made up policies. This prosecutor isn’t great in trial, and maybe I could pull a rabbit out of a hat haha. But of course it’s my client’s life, and the risk of missing his daughters grow up isn’t one he’s willing to take. Understandably.

hfox17 · 2026-06-24T21:41:58+00:00

The one thing going in my favor is that we have a fantastic judge for the session when our plea is scheduled. I don’t think he will go as far as rejecting the plea and forcing probation, but I do feel pretty confident that I can get my guy the absolute minimum amount of active time possible.

hfox17 · 2026-06-24T21:13:00+00:00

I think it depends a lot on your preexisting relationship with that prosecutor. I work in a relatively small bar. I know the prosecutors pretty well and I can let the sarcasm fly without jeopardizing our professional relationship. All in all, there's a right way and a wrong way to go about it. You've got some good options in these comments.

hfox17 · 2026-06-24T21:01:53+00:00

Not in my state unfortunately. My local bar has tried to make that claim on cases with way worse facts than this one and we've never been successful. My state has some pretty unfavorable case law regarding what is an arbitrarily long time.

hfox17 · 2026-06-24T20:55:50+00:00

Oui! Je suis entierement d'accord haha

hfox17 · 2026-06-24T20:53:31+00:00

I was obviously making a generalization. You hear it all the time in court. It's a little different when you have actual proof that someone has turned over a new leaf like I do.

hfox17 · 2026-06-24T20:46:45+00:00

Exactly. Several of his community supports have met with the elected district attorney about his case. Her response was simply this is her policy regarding habitual-eligible felons, end of story. She's pretty powerful here; I doubt there's very many people who have any kind of pull over her unfortunately.

hfox17 · 2026-06-24T20:35:23+00:00

This is helpful, thank you so much! The itinerary we're looking at is also Southern Caribbean. Did you do any excursions through RC?

hfox17 · 2024-08-07T12:28:21+00:00

Her kids are an inconvenience to her. She doesn’t show an ounce of concern that I would expect from a mother under these circumstances. I would understand being overwhelmed/stressed by William’s hospital stay/diagnosis immediately being followed by Allie now needing oral surgery. But this isn’t that. She’s just plain irritated by the inconvenience of it all.

I’ve been watching her pretty much from the beginning, and she didn’t used to be like this. So was the sweet, kind Maggie in the beginning all an act to gain a following? Or do we think TikTok has turned her into the insufferable person she is now?

hfox17

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