GETTING A REDUCTION OF SENTENCE AFTER IMPOSITION OF SENTENCE BASED ON SUBSTANTIAL ASSISTANCE -State

In State court, Florida Statutes § 921.186 allows the prosecutor to file a motion with the court seeking to reduce or suspend a sentence already imposed in a felony case based on the defendant’s cooperation with the state.  That cooperation has to lead to the “identification, arrest, or conviction of any of the defendant’s accomplices, accessories, coconspirators, or principals, or of any other engaged in criminal activity that would constitute a felony. This gives defendants serving jail time two bites at the sentencing reduction apple. First, they can cooperate against anyone who was involved in the same criminal activity that resulted in their conviction and sentence. Second, they can provide information about different or new crimes.  Section 921.186 is very similar to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 35.

GETTING A REDUCTION OF SENTENCE AFTER IMPOSITION OF SENTENCE BASED ON SUBSTANTIAL ASSISTANCE

Many times clients and their families call our office seeking to get a sentence reduced after a sentence has already been imposed. In both federal and state court, it is very difficult to do unless the judge made a mistake in imposing the sentence, which is rare.

In federal court, a defendant may be able to get a sentence, that has already been imposed, reduced under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 35.  Rule 35 allows for the correction of any error in the imposition of sentence within 14 days, and if the defendant cooperates with the prosecutors, and also allows the prosecutors to file a motion to reduce a sentence based on the defendant’s substantial assistance within 1 year, or under certain circumstances, more than 1 year.

In order to take advantage of either Federal Rule 35 or State Statute 921.186, a defendant seeking to reduce a sentence based on substantial assistance will have to work with the prosecutors, and should have experienced legal representation to make sure the sentence reduction is properly presented to the court and in fact given. Both the prosecutors and the court have broad discretion under these provisions to seek any reduction in the case of the prosecutors, or to grant a reduction in the case of the court, and a defendant may not get a second chance if the request is unsuccessful.  

What is Pretrial Discovery

Pretrial discovery is what happens after the charges are filed, and the parties exchange the evidence each side will use such as the names and addresses of witnesses and copies of all written statements, police reports, and copies, pictures, or descriptions of other physical evidence such as firearms, weapons, drugs (in drug cases),videos, tape recordings, etc. the prosecutor also has a duty to reveal any favorable evidence that can be used to show that the defendant is not guilty.

Burden of Proof: Guilty or Not Guilty

Jurors have the responsibility to make the right decision.  The defendant's life is in their hands.