In some circumstances, it may be appropriate to make a plea offer or submission to the prosecution in order to discontinue your charge, downgrade or amend your charge to a lesser or different offence, or amend the facts of the charge.
The prosecution is guided by the policies set out in the DPP Statement of Prosecution Policy and Guidelines. These Guidelines set out the factors to consider in determining whether a prosecution is in the public interest, the factors to consider when determining whether there are reasonable prospects of conviction, and the factors to consider in charge negotiations.
It is useful to consider the Guidelines and refer to the relevant parts when negotiating with the prosecution, usually with the assistance of your criminal defence lawyer.
What is the purpose of plea negotiations?
A plea offer or submission to the prosecution may be the difference between proceeding to trial and having your matter dealt with at an early stage, saving you in legal fees in the long run.
The plea offer or submission would set out to explain what we are seeking, the basis in support of what we are seeking, and where applicable, attach additional evidence or documentation in support.
Below are the main types of plea offers you can make, with some real-life examples from cases that our team of Perth criminal defence lawyers have worked on.
Submission to discontinue your charge
The submission to discontinue your charge may be based on a number of factors, either in isolation or in combination. For example, we could submit that the prosecution has a lack of evidence to obtain a conviction, or it may be that it is not in the public interest for the matter to be prosecuted.
If there is a lack of evidence to convict you, we would ordinarily set out the points of prosecution evidence which are weak, and which we say would be unable to prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt.
Pursuant to the prosecution guidelines, matters should only be prosecuted if they have reasonable prospects of conviction.
Real case example: Our client was charged with Robbery. We wrote to the prosecution pointing out that their case was circumstantial, and would not be able to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The prosecution discontinued the charge.
Real case example: Our client was charged with Breach of Family Violence Restraining Order. Our client was retrieving personal property from the marital home, and was waiting in a vehicle on the verge of his neighbour’s house. He breached the restraining order by being within a certain distance of the marital home. Our client had good antecedents, and because of his job, any conviction (even if he got a spent conviction) would have an enormous impact on his life. We made a submission saying that the prosecution would not be in the public interest. The prosecution discontinued the charge.
Submission to downgrade or amend your charge
In support of downgrading or amending your charge, it may be submitted that the facts would still satisfy the elements of a lesser or alternate charge. The benefit of this may be that the lesser or alternate charge may have a lower maximum penalty available, which may result in you obtaining a lesser sentence.
Here is a real case example: Our client was charged with Act with intent to harm causing bodily harm, which carried a maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment. As the client’s criminal defence lawyers, we successfully negotiated to have the charge downgraded to Act causing bodily harm, heard summarily in the Magistrates Court, where the jurisdictional limit on penalty was 3 years imprisonment and a $36,000 fine.
Another client client was charged with reckless driving with a circumstance of aggravation (to evade police), which carried a mandatory term of immediate imprisonment. This means that the Magistrate would have had no choice but to send our client to prison for at least 6 months. We successfully negotiated to remove the circumstance of aggravation, thus removing the mandatory imprisonment requirement, and the charge was also amended to dangerous driving. Our client pleaded guilty to the amended charge and received a fine. He also avoided a licence disqualification.
Submission to amend the facts
In some circumstances, you may agree with the essence of the charge and intend on pleading guilty, but disagree with certain alleged facts which would have a bearing on sentence. It is important to come to an agreement with the prosecution as to the facts, as this is the basis upon which you will be sentenced.
It could be submitted that a plea of guilty on the amended facts could still reasonably reflect the essential criminality of the conduct and provide an adequate basis for sentence. For example, you may agree to an assault, but only say you punched the victim, as opposed to punching and kicking the victim. Your sentence may be more serious if you are sentenced on the basis of having kicked the victim as well.
One of our clients was charged with Act or omission causing bodily harm. We successfully negotiated the facts to include some facts our client says occurred, and to remove some facts our client says didn’t occur. Prior to amending the facts, our client would likely have been facing imprisonment. The facts were amended and our client received a fine.
Hire our top criminal lawyers in Perth for your case
Chambers Legal is an experienced team of criminal defence lawyers that can assist with legal advice and representation. If you want more information regarding plea offers and negotiations, get in touch with our friendly team today.