Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

As a Former DA, as a 1st offense, one would rarely do the max. I would have to know more, but many PD's use threats of more jail, to get people to plead guilty. Call me and I will go over your facts on the phone, for free, to try to tell you how to proceed. David Wallin. 661-267-1313

Yes, but "recant" doesn't mean what you seem to think it means. Recanting would not make your confession go away or remove it from the record in your case. The jury would learn you had made two contradictory statements -- one confessing to the crime, and another calling the confession false.

Confessions are sometimes false. It's surprising how often people confess to crimes they didn't commit, or at least to a crime more serious than the one they actually committed. If your confession was false, recanting it may be a good strategy.

But when defendants recant, jurors usually believe the original confession. After all, people have a strong incentive not to confess to crimes. Those who have already confessed have a similar incentive to deny that the confession was true. It's much easier to believe the confession and reject the recantation than to do the opposite.

What really matters when you decide whether to take a deal is what a jury would believe. If recanting won't win them over, then taking a deal may be wiser than going to trial.

Only an experienced defense lawyer, with a lot of information about your case, can tell you whether recanting would make sense. Your PD has already told you he doesn't think so, but you're entitled to seek second opinions from other lawyers. Just make sure the lawyers you ask are experienced in criminal defense, and that they're familiar both with your judge and with the local jury pool.

Good luck.