As I stated in my article about the direct consequences of being sentenced, "When you are confronted with the prospect of being found guilty or pleading guilty, the most obvious concerns about this conviction involve whether you are going to be incarcerated..." Unfortunately, the direct consequences of a sentence like a possible jail sentence are only the beginning of how a conviction can impact your life.
While incarceration has the most immediate impact on you and your family, depriving you of your freedom and your family of your support and presence, the jail or prison sentence has a beginning point and an ending point. You can calculate how long you will be 'locked-up'. In comparison, several of the collateral consequences that result from a conviction can follow you for the rest of your life.
Understanding which of these consequences you can avoid must occur before the conviction is finalized at sentencing. Trying to un-do the effects of a collateral sentencing consequence after the sentence has been imposed, can result in large legal costs; and, sometimes the consequence can not be changed. Collateral consequences include:
- Loss of public office (either being forced to resign or being removed from office)
- Loss of your voting rights (at least during your incarceration)
- Loss of public employment (either by being forced to resign or by being removed-fired, with a lifetime ban on ever again having such employment)
- Loss of vested pension rights (from public-based pension systems)
- Loss of the ability to expunge your record (for either a specific period of years (dependent on the level of the criminal conviction); or, permanently if the conviction falls within certain types of crimes
- Immigration and Naturalization issues (this is a critical collateral consequence for both you and your family - potentially resulting in your immediate deportation. For further information on this consequence, refer to my article 'Immigration Consequences of a Conviction')
When you are charged with a crime, your first discussion with your lawyer should be about how to defend yourself from the criminal charges. The second issue you should discuss is what the possible consequences of a sentence can be. This discussion should address the direct sentencing consequences first, with the collateral consequences being used as a 'tie-breaker' to decide whether a particular sentence is appropriate and in your overall best interests.
A criminal defense lawyer like those at Bailey & Orozco can assist you in understanding the likely sentence; and, more importantly, we can work with you to develop a basis for a sentencing judge to impose the minimum sentence. Sometimes, we cannot eliminate the jail sentence, but are able to reduce it from a State Prison sentence to a local jail sentence. And, sometimes we argue for a plea to a different charge, giving a client an opportunity to avoid deportation. To reduce the impact of the possible sentencing consequences, each of the sentencing alternatives that apply to your case needs to be examined at the start of the representation, not just before you are about to be sentenced.
