Greensboro criminal trial lawyers advocate jury trials, for certain reasons.
Generally speaking, a person goes to a jury trial for one or more of these reasons:
- He is not guilty and will not plead to something he didn’t do no matter what the pressure on him is.
- He is guilty, but there is some legal error that will let him off. For example:
The police came to his house and asked him if they could search the house. He tells them “no.” They push their way into the house anyway and find cocaine in the bedroom. He successfully gets the drugs thrown out because of the illegal search. There is no other proof of the drug possession.
- He is guilty but the law says he has a good defense to the crime. For example, all of the psychiatrists who examined him agreed that he was legally insane at the time of the commission of the crime. “Defenses” are the ones you hear about on tv: “self-defense,” “ insanity defense,” “duress,” “entrapment.”
- He is guilty, but believes that State can’t prove it. People frequently go to trial because they believe the case is beatable and are willing to risk a worse sentence if they lose.
- He is guilty of a lesser crime, not the one charged, and believes he can convince a jury of that. Example: He is charged with possession with intent to sell/deliver marijuana and the only evidence the State has is that the police legally found 2 joints of marijuana on him. He believes the jury will find that he is guilty of misdemeanor possession of marijuana not felony possession with intent to sell/deliver.
- He is guilty of the crime but the State has made him no decent plea offer and he figures he’s got nothing to lose.