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Comment by benatkin | Hacker News Reader

Exactly my thought. Her statement is deliberately misleading.

It really isn't. Talk to some lawyers. It's exactly what happens in criminal cases like this, and that's not obviously a bad thing. I'm glad lots of people are asking questions about the plea system, but it's worth getting informed before reaching simple conclusions.

What happened here was a proposal where the US Atty. would agree to ask for six months in a minimum-security prison (where Aaron could have, for example, read whatever he wanted and had debates with financial criminals for six months), would agree to let Aaron's lawyers present an argument for a suspended sentence ("probation"), and let the judge decide. The judge here has a kind of harsh reputation, but, from talking to local lawyers, it seems that that mostly comes from being pro-government. Aaron would probably have gotten six months.

This is the statement I take issue with:

> At no time did this office ever seek - or ever tell Mr. Swartz's attorneys that it intended to seek - maximum penalties under the law.

Emphasis on the "at no time" part, which includes after the plea bargain fell through. I repeat what il said. Why so many counts?

Sorry, but we're overstocked on torches and pitchforks and need to move them. Can you come back and be reasonable at some other time?

Let's say a person takes the deal, goes before the judge, the judge sides with the prosecutor, and the judge gives the defendant six months in prison. At that point can the defendant say, "actually, thanks but no thanks, I want a jury trial"? Or is the defendant bound to the sentence once he agrees to go before the judge?

Once the defendant agrees, he agrees. But he can make the plea contingent. "I'll only plead guilty if the sentencing judge only gives me 6 months."

No, the it's highly uncommon for a proscecutor to refuse to drop any charges as part of a plea bargain. Not only would Aaron have been a convincted felon, but he would have had a dozen felonies on his record as priors. If the DA didn't want to make an example out of him, they would have dropped most charges and reduced the felony to a misdemeanor as is done in the vast majority of these cases.

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