This video discusses what you should do if you have plead Guilty in Arizona.

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Hi my name is Cindy Castillo with Castillo Law. Today I’d like to talk with you about what to do if you pled guilty to a criminal offense and the judge has discretion over your sentence.

It’s very important to discuss this with your attorney before you do anything at all. However there are certain things that you can do in order to help your attorney. First off one of the things that a judge normally will do if this is a felony case is he is going to send you to speak with a presentence writer. Now it’s important to speak with your attorney about what you should and should not tell the presentence writer. Oftentimes an attorney will go with you to speak with the presentence writer and it’s often important that the attorney tell you what questions you should answer and what questions you should not answer. For example if there are any attitude questions those are oftentimes not beneficial for you and often the presentence writer can use those questions against you. So first ask your attorney what questions you should answer and what questions you should not answer.

The second thing you should do is gather a number of letters on your behalf that have been written by loved ones, perhaps your employer, or clergy members. These are often helpful for a judge to use in determining what sentence he should give you.

One of the third things that you should do is consider whether or not medical records psychological records or academic records might assist a judge in deciding what sentence he should give you. There are some circumstances where medical conditions might justify, which may not be a defense, but may justify why you committed a certain offense. So make sure and ask your attorney whether this might help your sentence.

Another thing that you can do is ask your attorney whether or not it might help if members of your family clergy or employer could come in and speak with the judge themselves.

Now these are just a few things that can be done on your behalf to help the judge decide what sentence to give to you. If you have any questions regarding your sentence or any crime that you may have already pled guilty to please feel free to contact me at Castillo Law.
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