Criminal Trial Or Plea Deal? What You Must Know to Choose Wisely (2026)

Criminal Trial Or Plea Deal? How Do You Choose? A Former Prosecutor Breaks Down The Options! (2022)

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Plea or Trial? 3 Points To Making The Right Choice With A Criminal Case

How do you know if you should take a plea deal or take your criminal case to trial? This is one of the most common questions people ask when it comes to a criminal case. Regardless of whether you are charged with a petty misdemeanor or a first degree felony, it is critical to make the right choice when your freedom and your clean criminal record are at stake.

What factors should you take into consideration when deciding?

1. Facts of the case

What if the facts of the case are not favorable for you? What if there is a video showing you committed the crime? What if you know you committed the crime and evidence is difficult to defend? We have had some clients come to us and review the facts of the case and find that there is little chance to win in trial. In this situation, you move your strategy from moves from guilt and innocence to punishment mitigation mode.

In mitigation mode, you are looking to achieve the following goals:
Avoid jail time
Resolve your case in a manner that allows you to avoid a conviction
Secure a resolution that gives you the opportunity to have the arrest and criminal charge removed from your criminal record.

This brings up a good question - is it still possible to resolve a criminal case with a dismissal without the risk of a criminal trial? In some instances, yes! Let us look at a few examples of this:

Diversion Programs - Many counties have programs available for first-time criminal offenders that provide an opportunity to get your criminal case dismissed and still be eligible to have the charges expunged from your criminal record. If your evidence is not strong for you in a trial, your criminal attorney can use the existence of a Diversion program to limit your risk and get you a dismissal.

Conditional Dismissal - another option could exist where you criminal attorney is able to negotiate a dismissal of your charges in exchange for you completing certain conditions. For example, a common situation where this would apply is on a petty theft charge where the prosecutor will agree to dismiss your shoplifting charges in exchange for you completing a theft class and community service hours. Under this situation, you limit your risk by not having to go to trial but also achieve the goal of obtaining a dismissal of the charges and maintaining eligibility to have the charges expunged from your criminal record.

What if you are Innocent? This will depend upon your analysis of the Principle vs. Result – depends upon your goal! In other words, Prosecutors are trained to try to get something out of you rather than dismiss a criminal case. Your criminal defense attorney may be able to achieve the goal of a dismissal if you agree to do something in exchange. Some clients are focused on the principle of the matter that they are innocent - which is a legitimate position! In that instance, a jury trial may be more appropriate. Just remember, jury trials are risky! If you lose, you could be facing jail time, prison time and/or large fines.

2. Offer available vs. Risk

An experienced and aggressive criminal defense lawyer must examine the reasonableness of the offer. Is the offer from the prosecutor unreasonable? What is the risk at trial? You must analyze the cost/benefit analysis of the situation and determine if the offer available is worth the risk of going to trial.

The sad part of this is that very few criminal lawyers sit down and go over this principle with their clients. It is your life - take the time to consider it!

3. What your criminal attorney can do to improve your options

An experienced and aggressive criminal lawyer can help work up options for you to improve your bargaining position.

At the end of the day, it is still YOUR choice! Nobody else’s choice!

00:00 Plea or Trial? How Do You Know The Right Choice?
01:41 Mitigation
02:34 Conditional Dismissal
03:03 Diversion Programs
04:00 What If You're Innocent?
04:30 Principle vs. Result
06:58 What Can Your Attorney Do To Improve Your Options?