Denver criminal defense lawyer / negotiating

For a Denver criminal defense lawyer, not everything is about fighting. Sometimes getting the best deal for a client is about pleading out as opposed to going to trial. In fact, stupidly going to trial can cost a client hard time a lot of the time. But the decision of whether to go to trial or not isn't a binary one. It's also about getting the best deal for a client.

Part of this involves the criminal defense lawyer building and presenting his case in the best way possible. The prosecutor has a ton of discretion over how the case proceeds, the defense lawyer not so much. If I can convince the prosecutor that he can prove the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, he may simply drop the charges without proceeding further. Of course in many cases that's not feasible for a number of reasons (often the prosecutor feels the case is strong enough, either that or his hands are tied by regulations).

In that case, it is a delicate dance of negotiation. Most criminal defense lawyers got into this area to fight, so this is a bit different. But at the same time, we have to get the best outcome for our clients. In negotiation there are two keys. One is simply the interpersonal aspect. If the prosecutor likes me and likes my client, he'll offer a better deal. So it's all about building a working relationship with the prosecutor, and painting the client in a sympathetic light. That's pretty simple sounding but there is an art to it and there are a number of secrets.

The second key is negotiation stance and how to handle information. I want to show the prosecutor that I'm dealing from a position of strength, which means explaining some stuff about the case we've built. But I also don't want the whole thing out in the air, because that will weaken my stance if we do proceed to trial (that is, unless the case I've build is bulletproof, which is basically never). After that, it's just about deciding how hard a line to take, and making sure my client is aware of the risk inherent in going to trial as balanced to the benefit of the possible plea bargain (but the certainty that the plea will result in a conviction probably on a lesser offense).