What's the difference if you plead guilty??

[the_bob_delusion]

Say you committed a crime. You have to plead guilty or not guilty.

What's really the difference between if you go to trial and be found guilty vs admitting you're guilty to start off with.

Do you get a more lenient sentence or something???

If not, wouldn't you be better off pleading not guilty and see how it plays out in trial.

[rabbitearbandicoot]

crikey*mate, I have only skimmed over your quotes but from what I read, if a defendant admits to his barrister that he is guilty, the barrister cannot represent the defendant who then wants to plead not guilty?

what happens then if the defendant has no barrister willing to represent him?

[katydidthat]

i assumed that by pleading guilty, you are being seen as taking responsibility for your crime and that may get you a lesser sentence

I think another factor is the stress that a trial would place on a victim helps in giving the accused a lesser sentence.  Other things giving a shorter sentence (or none) are if you are willing to "grass" on someone else ... for that crime, or another.  

Here's an interesting discussion on the duties of a lawyer (from a Canadian perspective):

http://www.lsuc.on.ca/media/sith_colloquium_asimow_michael.pdf

[*crikey*mate*]

Pleas

This section deals with:

what to consider before making a plea;when to plead guilty; andwhen to plead not guilty.

http://www.legalanswers.sl.nsw.gov.au/guides/defend_yourself/pleas.html

[*crikey*mate*]

crikey*mate, I have only skimmed over your quotes but from what I read, if a defendant admits to his barrister that he is guilty, the barrister cannot represent the defendant who then wants to plead not guilty?

what happens then if the defendant has no barrister willing to represent him?

Defend yourself: facing a charge in court

http://www.legalanswers.sl.nsw.gov.au/guides/defend_yourself/

[lakeland27]

its generally not a good idea to defend yourself in a criminal case and quite a few judges won't allow an unrepresented defendant to do so. google some recent cases in victoria with lex lasry or betty king at the bench in victoria where legal aid has been cut to ribbons. civil cases are a quite different matter.

[katydidthat]

Rabbit, if a defendant admits to his lawyer that he is guilty and then he wants to plead not guilty, the barrister can continue to defend her/him within certain parameters.  The lawyer can't lie, can't allow the defendant to perjure him/herself, can't accuse another party of having done the crime ... but can claim that the prosecution don't have enough evidence to prove that the defendant did the crime.

There's another scenario, though.  The defendant might tell the lawyer that he is guilty ... but not understand that there is a defence to the crime.  So, if a man kills his wife and admits that to the lawyer, and says he is guilty, he might have found his wife in bed with another man, be under the influence of alcohol, and be suffering from PTSD.  That gives him a few defences which can justify a not guilty plea.  

[katydidthat]

what happens then if the defendant has no barrister willing to represent him?

Forgot this question ... 

If a person has no barrister "willing" to represent him, the judge can appoint a lawyer.  But, barristers work under the "cab rank principle" which means that you pretty much have to take a case within your area of expertise.  

[lakeland27]

if the defendant cannot afford legal representation and legal aid wont fund it (as is happening in victoria under cuts to the legal aid budget) the judge may refuse to hear the case at all. Lex Lasry has suspended a Murder trial in recent times for this reason.

[izabsmiling]

From my one experience .It was the plea hearing (from memory) where the accused ;who had previously plead not guilty however after hearing witness and accused statements prior to this...then changed his plea to guilty (between the hearing of statements on plea hearing).In that case he could have changed his plea BACK to not guilty if he wanted(if the conditions to the plea he stipulated were not agreed upon) and it would have been taken to Court and been heard by a Jury.

[izabsmiling]

that was a child sex abuse case