Yesterday we had a possible client call us telling us that her boyfriend was taken into custody at West Court in Westminster in the morning on a 2nd DUI and his bail was set at $10,000. The judge remanded him and set his hearing for after lunch. During lunch we went to court with the girlfriend to post bail or wait for him to be released on his OR. A public defender was assigned and he was heard again at 2pm. After some discussion with his PD he decides to plead guilty and allow the judge to sentence him thinking he would get maybe 30 days and do half of the time or less. We were all completely shocked when the judge sentenced him to 60 days. This all happened on his first court date.
I am truly shocked at how a Public Defender and a judge could allow a person to plead guilty on his first court date on a 2nd DUI and give him so much time. At a very minimum they should have advised him to come back another day and seek advice outside advice.
It felt like the judge and PD were just rushing through cases with no regard for the defendant.
Moral of the story is to always fight your case if nothing else just to negotiate with the District Attorney for a lighter sentence. Don’t just plead out because you will always get the maximum sentence they can give.