Determining the plea

Determining the plea

In some jurisdictions, computer crime carries a less harsh penalty than the offenses upon which the computer crime is based. In such circumstances, it may be in everyone's interest for the client to plead to the computer crime statute. The prosecutor gets the publicity for having convicted someone pursuant to the computer crime law, and the defendant gets the benefit of a less onerous sentence. If a civil action against the defendant by the victim is a possibility, counsel should argue for a plea of no contest. As a rule, the prosecution has no reason to refuse this request because a plea of no contest is absolutely no different than a plea of guilty for criminal purposes. If the prosecution seeks a guilty plea, counsel should determine the reason the prosecution is facilitating a private party's civil litigation. It is, however, a matter of discretion whether the prosecution allows for a plea of no contest rather than a plea of guilty.

Depending on the jurisdiction, it may be possible to get a commitment from the court that a certain sentence will be imposed once the defendant has pled, or to get a commitment from the prosecution that it will urge the court to impose the sentence that it has agreed to with the defense.FN80