For example, one recent visitor had found my posting on the various grades of Assault by asking Google the following question :-
"if i plead guilty to a section 20 gbh will i go to prison"The short answer is "probably", but I have a few pieces of advice for them:-
(a) Don't rely on a Google search to make a life-changing decision like this. Get a lawyer - get one now.
(b) Pleading guilty is a smart move if you are guilty and you know you are guilty - it is likely to earn you a significant discount on your sentence or even improve your chances of escaping a prison sentence altogether. But check with a lawyer before you do.
(c) Pleading guilty is the right and proper thing to do if you know you are guilty. Not just for you, but for everyone affected by the incident and for everyone who cares for you. But check with a lawyer before you do.
(d) If you're Not Guilty then it's doubly vital that you start talking to a lawyer now.
Did I stress highly enough the wisdom to getting yourself a lawyer and getting one now ? Seriously, nobody on the Web knows enough about your position to help you out of the hole you find yourself in. Stop doing Google searches and start dialling numbers out of Yellow Pages for solicitors.
And if you find yourself back at this blog sometime, I'd love to know how you got on.
1 comment:
Stan you clearly do not want to be a magistrate. If the government read what you have written here you will be removed from the bench in moments!!
If the government wanted people going around getting lawyers then they wouldn't keep trying to bankrupt all of the defence lawyers in the land.
Nor would they insist that all suspects in police custody speak to a government employed (but unqualified) "lawyer" in call centre before they are allowed to speak to the actual solicitor they requested.
If the government wanted people to be professionally represented then they certainly would not go around introducing means testing for legal aid in murder trials.
If people were supposed to get a proper defence then the government would definately not allow the CPS to run the CJSSS schemem in which the defendant is given the merest hint of the case against them in the form of a completely inadmissible "summary" of the evidence and bugger all else!
Honestly, Stan if you want to stay on the bench then you better buck up your ideas and stop advising they guilty... sorry I mean defendants... to find legal representation!!
Post a Comment