‘Legal fiction’ lightens penalty in Cortez court

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‘Legal fiction’ lightens penalty in Cortez court

Drug suspects accept plea deals in separate cases
DA’s explanation

The Cortez Journal asked the District Attorney’s Office to define legal fiction and explain when, why and how often it was used to prosecute criminals.
Deputy District Attorney Sean Murray provided the following unedited response.
“A legal fiction is what we say when a defendant is pleading guilty to a criminal offense they are not alleged to have violated. The classic example is when a defendant is charged with a crime and then pleads to attempting to commit that crime.
“This is called a charge reduction plea. A prosecutor can offer charge reductions, sentence concessions and other forms of consideration in exchange for a defendant giving up their right to a jury trial. The vast majority of federal and state cases are resolved through these plea bargains. The defendant would take a risk by going to trial and losing this consideration if convicted. Another way of saying this is that the judge can sentence the defendant without the charge reduction or sentence concession if the defendant is found guilty at trial. The state benefits from plea bargains because of the saved time, money and other costs associated with going to trial.
“Legal fictions are used to give defendant an incentive to plead guilty and avoid going to trial. Changing the plea to attempt or a lesser offense reduces the total prison or jail exposure for the defendant and is thus “safer” than going to trial in many situations. So a defendant who pleads guilty to a class 3 felony faces 4-12 in prison whereas the defendant who pleads to a class 4 felony faces 2-6 years in prison. Many cases resolve in a downward reduction in the charge in this way to give the defendant motivation to plead guilty. A defendant who pleads to a class 4 felony when charged with a class 3 felony has eliminated 6 additional years of possible prison exposure.”

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