01-01-2012, 02:56 PM
this will get interesting, as i predicted. i am told one defendant wants to go to trial and one wants to plead out. i do not have proof of this. BUT...if one wants to plead that means he has to roll over on the other and will have to testify. he will have to allocute and tell the story. and i think more than one person will go down.
In most United States jurisdictions a criminal defendant is allowed the opportunity before sentencing to offer an explanation for the crime through allocution. Some jurisdictions provide that this is an absolute right for all defendants, without which, a sentence may be overturned, and a new sentencing hearing must be held. Allocution is sometimes required of a defendant who pleads guilty to a crime in a plea bargain in exchange for a reduced sentence. In such cases, allocution is intended to provide closure for victims or their families by removing any doubt as to the exact nature of the defendant's guilt in the crime.
In most United States jurisdictions a criminal defendant is allowed the opportunity before sentencing to offer an explanation for the crime through allocution. Some jurisdictions provide that this is an absolute right for all defendants, without which, a sentence may be overturned, and a new sentencing hearing must be held. Allocution is sometimes required of a defendant who pleads guilty to a crime in a plea bargain in exchange for a reduced sentence. In such cases, allocution is intended to provide closure for victims or their families by removing any doubt as to the exact nature of the defendant's guilt in the crime.