Conferring with probation officer
Conferring with probation officer
Most courts will require a probation report before sentencing the defendant. Therefore, it is important to present the best possible case to the probation officer assigned to make that report. Counsel should encourage as many friends, colleagues, and other interested individuals who support the defendant to write to the probation officer about the defendant's
- character,
- contributions to the community, and
- achievements as a professional, family man or woman, or community member, or in any other sphere.
In addition, it is useful to make personal contact with the probation officer and to view him or her as an ally trying to find the most useful probation terms for the defendant. In this context, it is important to remember the goals of probation, which include rehabilitating the defendant, deterring him or her and others from similar crimes, and recognizing the rights of the victims and doing what can be done for them.FN76
It is also very important to make sure the defendant understands the significance of the probation meeting. In general, it is best for the defendant to fully admit his or her guilt, as admission of guilt is viewed as one step towards the defendant's rehabilitation. It is also easier to establish a rapport with the probation officer if the defendant admits guilt rather than continuing to deny it despite the guilty verdict.
Though occasionally a cynical, overworked, or bureaucratically insensitive functionary, the probation officer is an individual of considerable significance to the convicted computer criminal awaiting sentencing, and every effort should be made to break through any resistance to lenient sentencing that such characteristics might present.
In preparing a probation report, the probation officer will usually speak with the defendant, the arresting officers, the victim, and any other available interested parties. It is most important for the defendant to convince the probation officer that it is in the interest of society for the defendant to avoid incarceration.
There is no reason for counsel to ignore the possibility of swaying the probation officer with testimony supporting the idea that the defendant should be treated in a manner reflecting his or her special gifts, and perhaps unusual problems, rather than as a criminal.