What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arkansas
A friend of mine is currently awaiting court on a c felony theft charge. As I understand it the situation is this. A "friend" of his didn't have an ID and my friend pawned some items for him. Well the items were stolen and my friend got charges with the theft. When he was arrested he told them what happened and they let him out on bond. They arrested the "friend" and he pled to the theft (not sure if it was the same charge or not) and was sentenced to three yrs prison. Meanwhile in January 09 my friend's defense attny told him not to take the offer (5 yrs probation) because they have cases like this all the time and they will more than likely offer something better next time. So the last time he went to court (April 09) his attny told him to take the deal he doesn't have time to mess with this case anymore. My friend told him no and the case was re-set again to the end of June. The court is charging him with the felony theft and not with theft by receiving. All items in question were returned to their owners. And the amount received for the items is no where near the felony range. I understand that the cost of the items or replacing these items is how the charge is given, but doesn't the fact that all items were returned in same condition have anything to do with it? Now to complicate matters, while he was waiting for his June court date, it is still April, his attny apparently told the judge that he was ready to take the deal and said he would appear in court on the 20th or 27th of April. My friend was not aware of this and stupidly left the state for a while. No one contacted my friend about this new court date (he was still in Arkansas in April). This is what I find odd, he was in a car accident on one of his prior court dates and got about 6 calls from his bondsman asking where he was when he didn't show up for court. This time no one called before court to tell him and no one called on the court date. The judge issued a bench warrant (I think) and while he was out of state he was pulled over for a traffic stop and when his name was ran he was arrested. When he was returned to Arkansas the offer of probation was still there, he didn't want to take probation because of personal reasons and instead was going to ask for 3 yrs prison to get it over and done with. For some reason when he went to court to sign for the time the prosecutor rescinded the offer and is now wanting to give him ten years. My friend has a past that is not very good but isn't there something that can be used to help his case? I don't know what I am expecting but anything you could offer would be much appreciated.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
A friend of mine is currently awaiting court on a c felony theft charge. As I understand it the situation is this. A "friend" of his didn't have an ID and my friend pawned some items for him. Well the items were stolen and my friend got charges with the theft. When he was arrested he told them what happened and they let him out on bond. They arrested the "friend" and he pled to the theft (not sure if it was the same charge or not) and was sentenced to three yrs prison. Meanwhile in January 09 my friend's defense attny told him not to take the offer (5 yrs probation) because they have cases like this all the time and they will more than likely offer something better next time. So the last time he went to court (April 09) his attny told him to take the deal he doesn't have time to mess with this case anymore. My friend told him no and the case was re-set again to the end of June. The court is charging him with the felony theft and not with theft by receiving. All items in question were returned to their owners. And the amount received for the items is no where near the felony range. I understand that the cost of the items or replacing these items is how the charge is given, but doesn't the fact that all items were returned in same condition have anything to do with it? Now to complicate matters, while he was waiting for his June court date, it is still April, his attny apparently told the judge that he was ready to take the deal and said he would appear in court on the 20th or 27th of April. My friend was not aware of this and stupidly left the state for a while. No one contacted my friend about this new court date (he was still in Arkansas in April). This is what I find odd, he was in a car accident on one of his prior court dates and got about 6 calls from his bondsman asking where he was when he didn't show up for court. This time no one called before court to tell him and no one called on the court date. The judge issued a bench warrant (I think) and while he was out of state he was pulled over for a traffic stop and when his name was ran he was arrested. When he was returned to Arkansas the offer of probation was still there, he didn't want to take probation because of personal reasons and instead was going to ask for 3 yrs prison to get it over and done with. For some reason when he went to court to sign for the time the prosecutor rescinded the offer and is now wanting to give him ten years. My friend has a past that is not very good but isn't there something that can be used to help his case? I don't know what I am expecting but anything you could offer would be much appreciated.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
