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Transcript
Speaker 1
00;00;00;12 – 00;00;00;27
How can a prior conviction make your life hell? This is Christina Williams with Just Criminal Law.
Speaker 2
00;00;09;07 – 00;00;11;01
And David Mann, Legal Storytelling Specialist. Well, that’s an awfully strong statement. So it sounds like there must be many ways that a prior conviction can make your life hell. So what are a few of them?
Speaker 1
00;00;17;14 – 00;00;19;08
Yeah, I mean, the list goes on and on an on. But a lot of times, what we see in our office is, somebody comes in, they have a new criminal charge. And, you know, we always ask them, “Have you been in trouble before or have you ever had to be in front of a judge before?” And a lot of times, we get an answer of, “Yes, I have a prior conviction. I should have fought it. I shouldn’t have pled guilty. I should have taken it to trial. But I took a plea bargain.” And that is something that they’re now worried about, because they have a new criminal charge which they never planned on having. So yes, it is a big deal when you have a new criminal charge, to have a prior conviction.
Speaker 2
00;01;03;11 – 00;01;03;22
Okay. So, first lesson, it sounds like, is don’t plead guilty. Like, you know, sometimes I suppose you have to, but in many cases you don’t. But you’re talking sort of about people who go, “Well, I’m going to make this go away,” and he’s going to plead guilty, and then it ends up biting them later. So what happens then? Now they’ve got this prior conviction. They’ve got a second one. And what might happen?
Speaker 1
00;01;23;28 – 00;01;27;10
Well, now they have a new charge. And so automatically, the prosecutor and the court and the police, everybody is going to look at them differently because they have a prior conviction. And, along with a conviction, the judge and the prosecutor are going to assume that the person was guilty of that prior conviction or they wouldn’t have pled guilty, which is not always the case. Say they had a prior DUI and all of a sudden, they have another DUI. Maybe we could have helped them get that prior DUI dismissed or reduced. But now, they have a second pending DUI. And so in this sort of example, they’re facing mandatory jail time at this point. Driver’s license suspension, and all the consequences that would now come along with potentially having two DUI’s. As far as you know, they’re going to have a hard time finding a job or keeping a job.
Speaker 2
00;02;27;02 – 00;02;27;27
Hmm. Okay. And so if this goes to trial, I’m just sort of imagining that the prosecution can begin to ask your client about all of this and whether it ends up impacting the case or not, it still gets aired and still gets heard by the jury. Is that right?
Speaker 1
00;02;47;02 – 00;02;50;04
Well, in some sort of situations that will happen, not necessarily with a DUI going to trial, but say you have a client who is charged with stalking, and they have a prior conviction of sort of the same, pushing the person that’s now accused them of stalking. And so, they got convicted of a battery and they really were not stalking the victim, but the victim reported it in a way that made them look bad. And they just don’t want to plea guilty. They aren’t guilty. So we go to trial and the prosecutor may be able to use that prior interaction between the two of them against our client. If the court finds that could be relevant and it’s a certain kind of evidence that can be brought before the jury, not for the purpose of saying he’s guilty of stalking, but just as a way of saying, “He’s saying didn’t stalk her, but he’s been abusive in the past and this is a course of conduct, or a pattern.” In that situation, that prior conviction could come into trial and then the jury and the judge are going to look at my client in a completely different light than if he didn’t have that prior conviction. So that’s an example of that.
Speaker 2
00;04;14;22 – 00;04;16;12
Yeah, that’s something that, when I work with people in court on storytelling, that the jury is sort of sizing up who are the characters in this story. And you’re describing a situation where they’re adding a lot of layers to the character of that client and making certain assumptions. Maybe it seems like a criminal, because of this information from the past. Is that how it works?
Speaker 1
00;04;38;01 – 00;04;39;19
That’s exactly how it works. And no matter how innocent you are of the new charge, and now matter how much the judge says don’t use this prior evidence to determine the guilt on the new charge, the jury just doesn’t know how to keep those things separate. And they’re definitely going to use that against my client.
Speaker 2
00;04;56;02 – 00;04;56;26
So it sounds like there are many ways in which a prior conviction can come back to haunt you later. So if someone has one of these prior convictions and they’re now facing a second, it sounds like a good idea to get a lwayer. How might they get in touch with you?
Speaker 1
00;05;10;20 – 00;05;10;29
Sure. We’ll include a link in the description where they can call, text, or chat with a member of my team, any time, day or night. Here at Just Criminal Law, we know you only get one shot at justice. So make yours count!
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