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Practitioner?s Notes: Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place

By Douglas A. Berman

In a recent post found here, it was noted:  ?It has long been the practice at sentencing that prosecutors stress the awfulness of the offense and defense attorneys stress the not-so-awfulness of the offender.?  But what is the defense attorney to do when her client pleads guilty, perhaps even cooperates, and the PSR gets the ?awfulness? of the offense wrong?  I?m not talking about simple, black and white errors, but when things are shaded in a way that makes your client seem materially worse than is justified.  Probation Officers, whose fields of expertise generally lie elsewhere, frequently rely on others to prepare the PSR?s offense conduct section.  This is a particular problem when complex financial crimes are involved...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on July 28, 2008 (boomark / email).