Today's column is a summary of a program that I moderated at the 2013 Federal Bench Bar Conference on June 7 in Philadelphia. The participants were U.S. District Judge Mary McLaughlin of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; Mike Engle, past president of the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; Ann Flannery, former assistant U.S. attorney; and Peter Schenck, chief of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia. I designed the program.
Over 85 percent of criminal cases filed in federal court result in guilty pleas, and the vast majority occur before trial. Of those that go to trial, well over 90 percent result in guilty verdicts. Simply based upon statistics, the sentencing hearing in over 90 percent of the cases is the most important aspect of the criminal process. The federal sentencing guidelines, although now only advisory, still make the sentencing hearing a complicated event that must be prepared for with professional due care. Gone are the days when one can throw the client on the mercy of the court, explain his or her past good life, and seek rachmones (a Yiddish term often used by Chicago defense lawyers, meaning compassion). Sentence preparation must begin early and in earnest.
