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Is it too late to change his plea? |
My son has been advised by his barrister to plead guilty to an attempted robbery. We feel now he has been ill advised. I know you probably think i'm his mum and i would say he's innocent, but the events that took place shows that he is innocent. He's never been arrested before or even cautioned by the police, has a good family background and is doing extremely well in college. Not the signs of a person who would attack or threaten anyone with a knife. The knife he had was a small battered round headed knife he used to repair his bike when he was out and about on it. I'm feel he should have been able to state his case and let the jury decide rather than to have a judge make the decision. So is it too late to change his plea? He's 18 and the plea has already been put before the judge for an indication. Have your son get a new attorney/barrister who is on his side. Then they can file a motion to withdraw his plea if he hasn't been sentenced yet. If he's already been sentenced though, then that would be tough. You can do that in the American legal system. I'm not too sure about Britain or Canada laws though. If he is innocent, then there is no way the barrister should have advised him to plead guilty, One the other hand if there are witness to the attack and they have pointed the finger at him, then he's not much of a chance of being found not guilty, and the courts will not take it likely that the courts time has been wasted. Yes he can change his plea before the trial but think very carefully about it and do make sure he is innocent of the attack. For all you know, your son has told the barrister that he did it, or was involved in some way as to make him guilty by association. Barristers don't tell clients to plead guilty when they're innocent. It is not too late to change his plea, it can be done in Court. However, I wonder if the knife has been produced as evidence. The question of whether or not he intended to rob another is also included in any verbal comment at the time. The Prosecution might adduce evidence from witnesses that your son said something and produced the knife. This would put the Defence in some quandary. Ask your Solicitor about the evidence. This is the crucial point. The prosecution would not go to court without evidence so you are not telling us the full facts.His barrister having weighed the evidence has advised him accordingly.It sounds as if changing his plea now could do him potentail harm in the sentencing stage.He is oviously on a sticky wicket if the prosecution and defence think he is guilty. Ex police The actual question is whether he can change his plea to one of 'not guilty'. Whether it is in his best interests to do so or not is an interesting question, but that's not what is being asked nor can we judge that issue. The answer is he can change his plea, but only with the permission of the court. He will need to change barrister, not because the barrister he had was no good, but because the barrister will be 'professionally embarassed' (a term of art, but a genuine term) by the change of plea to 'not guilty'. He probably will not need to change solictor. This is not a decison to be undertaken lightly and the consequences of a guilty verdict following a trial are ones your son will need to bear in mind. All I can say is, no lawyer or barrister worthy of the the name would advise a defendant of previous good character to plead guilty to attempted robbery unless there was very strong reasons to do so. Perhaps you should pause before overruling his legal advice, to consider whether your belief in him will be adequate to have him acquitted. |
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