Judge, prosecutor

An friend of mine has been charged with a crime. There is no question that he is "guilty" of the crime; he has admitted it. There is, though, the question of what punishment would be most useful and appropriate in his case.

He is not a U.S. citizen, which makes his situation rather precarious. Most any conviction will lead to his being deported. This is doubly unfortunate, because the crime he committed shows that he needs a certain kind of help and counseling. If he is deported, he will have no way (means or availability) of getting the help he obviously needs.

He has a lawyer now, but before he did, he went to the police and made a full confession. Unfortunate, because now he has very little legal leverage. (Never run to the police and confess, even if you're guilty! Get a lawyer first.)

All this is taking place in a mid-sized city where a lot of people know each other. For instance, the prosecutor and the judge in the case each have numerous friends in common with my friend. A lot of these mutual friends feel strongly that prosecuting this person to the maximum--throwing him in jail for several years, and then out of the country--is not the best or most helpful thing, either for my friend or for the victim of the crime.

The prosecutor seems to be intent on prosecuting this particular crime "to the max" and apparently isn't a bit interested in finding out anything about my friend's background, etc. etc. etc.

My question is this: Is it considered improper for mutual friends such as these to bring this case up in more or less casual conversation with the prosecutor? How about with the judge? How about writing a letter to either the prosecutor or the judge?

Friends I have talked to wouldn't be interested in trying to convince the prosecutor that the person is innocent, or anything like that. Rather, they would like to fill her in on what kind of a person he is, what is family situation is, what the practical effect of being deported would be, and so on. They *might* go as far as to explain why X would be a counterproductive way to handle this situation, while Y would be a better way for everyone involved.

Also, aside from the ethics/legality of this, is it a smart idea? I.e., do prosecutors/judges ever listen to this kind of influence from community members, or are they likely to just push back harder, because they feel like someone is improperly trying to keep them from doing their job?

Also, are there formal ways (as opposed the more informal ways I just mentioned) for community members to introduce pertinent information into the trial? Can you write a letter to the judge, or file a brief, or something? Is that sort of thing ever helpful?

Again, the question isn't whether this person is guilty, but what to do about it.

Also, no one wants to approach the judge or prosecutor in a way that is illegal or improper. But people I have talked to aren't very sure about what exactly *is* legal and proper, and what isn't.

Thanks for any light you could shed on this issue!

It would be very improper to try and exercise subtle pressure on the judge hearing this case or even talk about this matter to the judge; the judge has a duty and ethical obligation to be neutral in any matter that is before him/her. At the very lest the judge would have to recuse himself from this case if such influence or ex parte communications were attempted.

As to exerting pressure on or talking to the prosecutor, while there is no ethical bar to someone making overtures on behalf of a criminal defendant, the prosecutor may either choose to ignore it or push on even harder with the case.

As to a more formal intercession on behalf of the defendant, typically a defense attorney can call character witnesses on behalf of the defendant to the extent that the judge allows it. Talk to the defense attorney handling this case to see what the judge's preferences are for handling such character witnesses.