Legal Question in Criminal Law in Michigan

Re: after a jury trial in a assault and battery case

The maximum penalty in Michigan for Assault & Battery (MCL 750.81; see also http://www.co.eaton.mi.us/ecpa/define.htm) is 93 days in jail &/or $500 fine plus court costs. As with any misdemeanor, the defendant can be placed on probation for up to 2 years.

The time to plea bargain is BEFORE a trial, not afterwards or once you've received a sentence that is "too stiff".

What's "too stiff", anyway? That's too subjective to help us answer your question.

I recommend that, before you enter any guilty plea to a criminal charge (misdemeanor or felony), you talk to an attorney who is familiar with defending that charge. Review the police report with the attorney, and be totally honest about the facts as you know them to be ... plus your prior involvement with police and the courts. Only then can the attorney give you informed advice re: pleading guilty, trying to get a plea bargain, going to trial, or what to expect in your sentence.

Sentencing it in the judge's discretion. Some judges will talk to the prosecutor and defense attorney before the plea is entered and give an advisory "here's what I'd probably give as a sentence" position; this is called a "Cobbs conference", and if the defendant pled guilty based on that and the judge changed his/her mind and imposed a harsher sentence, then the defendant can withdraw his guilty plea. Of course, this doesn't apply if you go to trial and lose.