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A few years ago, a client of mine was accused of doing something very minor. I can& #39;t discuss details so you& #39;re just going to have to trust me that it fell somewhere between jaywalking & pickpocketing in terms of moral culpability. Prosecutors chose to charge him with a felony.1/6
The prosecution& #39;s plea offer was 1.5 to 3 years in prison. My client knew he didn& #39;t commit the felony, so he refused to plead. At trial, his public defender repeatedly argued that the language of the felony statute didn& #39;t apply here & the prosecution was misinterpreting it. 2/6
Admittedly the felony statute is a little confusing, because the NY legislature added to it over the years & never cleaned it up—not uncommon. But the prosecution& #39;s interpretation of it made very little sense. The court accepted it anyway & my client was convicted. 3/6
After trial the prosecution asked for & got the maximum sentence, even though pre-trial they& #39;d offered the minimum if he pled. They& #39;re not really supposed to punish people for exercising their constitutional right to a trial, but they do it all the time. 4/6
