The person, who is charged always starts his sentence in the county jail, even before he is found guilty. This time spent in the county jail is counted as time served. Once charged, bail will be set. You can go to a Bondsman and pay them 20% of the bail amount, which will be non-refundable, but they will pay the bail money. For instance, if bail is set at $10,000.00, then you can pay the Bondsman $2,000.00 and they pay the $10,000.00. After you go to prison, the 10 Grand is returned to them, minus bookkeeping fees. You may pay the 10 grand yourself and later get the 10 grand back. minus bookkeeping fees. The risk for you or the Bondsman is if the accused does not show up for court and has fled. Then you or the Bondsman loses all of the bail money.
The accused has the option to plead “guilty or not guilty”. In most cases there is potential to plea bargain. This means if you plead not guilty up front, later there still may be a possibility to plea the charges down to prevent a costly trial. If the arrested person feels they are innocent, then he would need to plead not guilty and the case will go to trial.
If the accused feels or knows he is guilty, then a plea bargain (agreeing to a crime) is the normal and probably the only option. Many accused are forced into a plea bargain by deceit, before they even know what is going on. When an individual is arrested the investigators have most of the information from the victims side, so they start out by being nice, like they are helping you and try to get you to agree with what they already know, which is, that you will get 2+ years for this crime. The accused may be told many untruths. This ploy has snared many and in some cases even those who are completely innocent. The investigators by law, are not required to tell the truth so long as they can persuade you to talk, and by law are protected by using false promises. Fortunately, they are not using physical force or water boarding. The accused may be told, if you tell your side of the story you likely will not get any time. Another line commonly used is that they may tell you that you will get extra time if it goes to jury trial. Most individuals don’t want to go through a lengthy trial, or put the victim through a long and painful trial where they would most likely have to testify. The courts also don’t want long and costly trials and seek to clear the matter quickly for final resolution.
Once they get a confession or enough information to charge the accused you need to be aware of a few issues. Even though the accused has committed one crime, there may be a number of charges presented to the court against the accused. This is normal for the prosecutor to present as many charges as possible against the accused so don’t be surprised by this if it happens. What this means is that one crime may turn into multiple charges which each charge carries their own amount of sentencing time. This is where you need to understand the difference between “consecutive, and concurrent” when it applies to sentencing. If you have 4 separate charges each carrying a sentence of 2-7 years, a concurrent sentence means you serve all charges at one time and at the same time so you would serve a minimum of 2 years and a maximum of 7 years. If you get consecutive sentencing then each charge is added to the other so you would serve a minimum of 8 years and a maximum of 28 years. This is very important to understand these terms ahead of time. If the sentence is less than a year it is served in the county jail, over 1 year it is served in the State Prison.
Most people need a court appointed attorney due to the high cost of legal representation. There are a few that are fairly good, but it is like a lottery and you have no say. If you have a small amount of cash, then you should hire an attorney to work with the court appointed attorney (If you can find one that would do that!). My attorney knew our court appointed attorney as a friend, which was ideal. The problems with court appointed attorneys, are that they are friends with the prosecutors and judges and typically encouraged to resolve the cases without trial. The court appointed attorneys need to work with those same judges and prosecutors every day, so if they push too hard and cause too much work or problems they can lose their jobs or not be appointed to a case. Court appointed attorneys also are carrying tremendous caseloads and cannot give each case the time they need. This is not a good scenario for the accused.
In a plea bargain, the prosecutor may drop one or more of the charges, which was there in case you requested a trial. In which case, if you won the first time, they could go back on the second charge. Everybody likes the plea bargain, from the accused, the judge, the victim and the victim’s family. Plea bargains are almost always in two figures, like 2-7 or 5-15 years. The first number is the minimum time served and the larger number is the maximum served. Later you will find the minimum number becomes ERD (Earliest release date). I don’t think anyone has ever been released earlier than that date, except if they were found not guilty later, and most serve more time than their ERD. In Michigan there is what is called “Truth in Sentencing”, which means each person who is charged will serve at least their minimum time behind bars. That means if you are sentenced with 2 to 7 years you will serve at least the minimum of 2 years.
If the sentence is for one year or more, the court turns over all responsibility of managing the inmate and enforcing what the court has decided to the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC); the Parole Board is now responsible for all the decisions made for the incarcerated future (life, if sex offender). The courts do still hold the accused responsible for any court cost, fines, restitution, etc., but they do not require payment while in prison. I do believe though, that it is helpful for the parole board to make a positive parole decision that the inmate pays all fines or court costs, ahead of time. An inmate being at level one or two in a State prison is much better off then being in a county jail. County jails are mostly overcrowded, few programs except “Forgotten Man Ministry”, by which to improve yourself.
Court dates are stressful; if you would like someone to go with you, let us know. Mostly the lower court remands you to the District Court (State) to handle your case. If you plead guilty, then it is quite simple, you just plead guilty to any plea bargain agreement. There is always a pre-sentence investigation done by the court where the officer questions all the parties, including the spouse or parents. It is helpful if the loved one is out on bail and is working, but also that he is in counseling and doing volunteer work, such as Mel Trotter, Salvation Army, etc. This gives your attorney important talking points to persuade the judge to reduce the sentence. That decision follows the inmate all the way to the parole board hearings for a positive result. If you plead innocent you better have a good alibi and a good attorney, which will be costly.
Visiting a loved one in a county jail was horrible in the past; but since about 2013? you get a 30-minute visit per week determined by the jail, including which day. You have to apply for a visit at least 24 hours in advance. You cannot enter the building with a cell phone, so leave it locked in your car. You check in at the counter and then you wait until the time you are allowed go in a room with many video stations. You may visit with the two of you, but its a small booth with one chair and you will need to take turns visiting. This is done by video and you both appear to be looking down because of the placement of the camera. Depending on the number of people visiting, there can be a lot of background noise. If you are late you don’t get to visit.
Typically the inmate first goes to the county jail until sentencing and at that point if prison is the destination he will be sent to the Reception Center in Jackson, Michigan. They will typically spend 2 to 6 weeks at the reception center, being tested and this is where they determine where the inmate will go next. The reception center is very difficult but they should not lose heart since they eventually will be sent to another prison and there can settle into the routine of prison life.