What Startling DA Discretion Impacts Your Criminal Case Results?
Video Transcript
A district attorney’s charging and plea-bargaining discretion can significantly change your criminal case outcome—sometimes determining whether you face diversion, a misdemeanor, or a felony. DA policies and individual judgment affect what charges are filed, what evidence is emphasized, and whether alternatives like treatment or reduced counts are offered. This article explains the most impactful DA discretion points, how they shape case results, and what you can do to respond strategically.
Ray Hrdlicka – Host – Attorneys.Media
“That sounds like, hey, this is a good county. Go do something and this is not. And then if it’s within a county, I would assume, hey, this DA, assistant DA is going to be great to be on the other side versus this one. I mean, that whole phrase, equal justice under the law, but isn’t…does it follow that path?”
Kirk Tarman– Criminal Defense Attorney – San Bernardino County, CA
“Until artificial intelligence becomes, these district attorneys, etc. And even then…who know? No, it’s human beings. And what a good defense attorney does…goes in there, and they try to give some context to what’s occurring. And because everybody who’s doing these things, it’s not like their bad people, especially when it comes to DUI. All these people, they have underlying stressors, they may have addiction problems, they may have this isolated incident. They may have left, you know, because they felt they were in danger. You give some context to who the person is and what’s going on.
And some DA’s will understand. And those are people, I think, DA’s, who have more sympathy and empathy, and perhaps have had a little bit more real-world experience, so they can understand why people can make mistakes. And then there’s other counties that just don’t care. They just go. And these people are very binary… while then they shouldn’t have been driving, should not have driven then. Just like…man, like life is complicated. And some people get it, and some people don’t.”