Why do I need an attorney to help me reach a plea deal in my Florida case? Can’t I strike one on my own?
Answer: Yes, you could strike one on your own, but it’s never a good idea. State Attorneys will talk to defense attorneys. They won’t necessarily want to pick up the phone and talk to the defendants in the case. And defense attorneys know what are the, maybe for your specific charge there are mandatory sanctions required by statute that the prosecutor can’t do anything about, the judge can’t do anything about, that they’re mandatory required by statute. Most laypeople don’t realize that. And so you need a defense attorney to talk to the prosecutor, see what you can do about getting creative with a specific offer; whether it’s trying to keep someone out of jail if we could do house arrest instead or if we could do work offender program instead. Those are all things that the defense attorneys know that laypeople don’t necessarily know. That’s why it’s very, very beneficial to get a defense attorney who knows what the specific sanctions are that are required by statute, and who knows and has a good rapport with the State Attorney’s Office that can talk to them and try to get you the best outcome possible.
