Legal Question in Criminal Law in Kentucky

Our son was in a trial today that he planned to plea guilty to. The public defender said she was entering a plea of not guilty on his behalf. He looked surprised and she told him not to worry that he could change it later if he wanted to. Then the judge set a date for a pre trial conference. We are very confused as to what all this means. Some have told us that this is where they will probably try to work out the plea bargain. Can you help us to understand what is happening.

thanks


Asked on 2/11/11, 7:18 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Andrea Welker Welker Law Office

That's exactly what that means. You should never plead guilty to a charge at arraignment. You have no idea what facts might be in your favor, even if you committed the offense, that could be used to negotiate a better deal, or even move to suppress the evidence and get the charges dropped. His public defender is doing due diligence for him and working to get him the best deal. There might be a few pretrial conferences scheduled before there is either a plea or a trial date.

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Answered on 2/17/11, 6:30 pm


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