If someone takes an "open plea," what should he/she do before sentencing in order to help his/her case?

Quite simple. A damn good lawyer! Taking an open plea means you are over riding the District Attorney's offer and for lack of a better phrase throwing oneself at the mercy of the court as to the sentence. What may or may not help depends on alot of factors none of which are included are in your question. The charges are relevant. The criminal history is relevant. If the defendant does not have a horrific past maybe character witnesses might help. Again, its all case dependent but you do want someone who can be very persuasive with the court. If I can answer any more questions please dont hesitate to call. Brian Michaels 310-991-9179

Well, usually, you do not enter an open plea unless you have a strategy in advance. Ordinarily, it occurs in a situation in which the Judge has given an indicated sentence that will undercut the DA's best offer. In order to get to that position, your lawyer would have put together as much mitigation material as possible and would have decided how to get it before the judge. This can be done informally by showing the Judge letters in support of the client, certificates of achievement, completion of programs, psychiatric information etc. It can also be done by requesting a pre-plea report under 1203.7 and submitting all the favorable materials to the Probation Officer for inclusion in the Report. There are also times when the lawyer will hire a sentencing consultant to prepare and submit an alternative sentencing report. The lawyer would also want to submit any materials or briefing regarding 17(b), 1385, Romero or other relief that might be granted in the course of sentencing. Bottom line is that if you entered an open plea, you need to sit down with your lawyer right away and ask her or him what the strategy is. Good luck!

Generally, when someone takes an "open plea" it is because his/her attorney believed either by express statements ("an indicated sentence" or "indicated sentence range") or implied statements from the Judge that the Judge's sentence will be a better deal than what was offered by the DA's office. Also, the attorney must have believed that the "indicated sentence" was a better outcome than the sentence subsequent to a potential guilty verdict at trial and that going to trial was too risky - ie. the evidence was too strong. As the attorney's mention above - the attorney and client's job at this point is to gather all of the mitigating documentation/evidence possible to be presented to the Judge to be considered at the sentencing hearing in order to persuade the Judge to provide the most lenient sentence possible. Best of luck!

Before you take an open plea to any case you usually know in advance what the judge is going to sentence you to- in spite of whatever the DA might be requesting. (An "indicative sentence"). To get to this point you have to put together a package of material that justifies the judge in giving this sentence; transcripts; letter of recommendation; psychological evaluations; etc. An attorney can be very helpful in putting this together and dealing with the court.