This article was first published in Crime Justice & America, 2009, by\u00a0Andrew D\u00f3sa, and was written directly to defendants, to assist them as they prepared for the Pre-Sentence Probation Officer Interview.<\/p>\n
SPEAK FOR YOURSELF–HELP YOURSELF:<\/p>\n
BE PREPARED FOR THE PROBATION INTERVIEW<\/em><\/p>\n You have been forced to be silent.\u00a0 From the start of your case through change of plea, you were quiet.\u00a0 You wanted to speak up, but someone else did the talking, explaining, arguing, and negotiating for you.\u00a0 Your attorney was your mouthpiece.\u00a0 But now it is your turn, your one and vitally important turn.<\/p>\n Here is the setting.\u00a0 You have negotiated a deal and changed your plea.\u00a0 The sentencing hearing is a couple weeks away.\u00a0 A probation officer is sitting in front of you.\u00a0 She is overwhelmed with work, deadlines, stress, a personal conflict with a spouse\u2013like everybody else.\u00a0 What can you do for yourself?\u00a0 How can you leave a positive impression? Consider a few things and then plan your presentation.<\/p>\n First, the probation officer probably took the job to help, have an impact.\u00a0 He wants you to do better and also have a \u201cjust\u201d sentence.\u00a0 But being overworked and stressed, the officer does not have the time to get to know you.\u00a0 This person is now trying to keep up with all the interviews and report writing deadlines.\u00a0 Maybe he became jaded and cynical.\u00a0 What do you think will get this person on your side?<\/p>\n Second, the probation officer wants to know if you understand your responsibility.\u00a0 He has heard it all and is not naive.\u00a0 He knows how to read people.\u00a0 Don\u2019t make excuses.\u00a0 Take responsibility for your own life.\u00a0 Did you make bad choices about friends and associates?\u00a0 Did they help you mess up?\u00a0 You cannot blame them.\u00a0 Nobody forced you to get into trouble.\u00a0 But you can say you followed, instead of taking the lead for yourself and walking away. Admit your mistakes.\u00a0 Don\u2019t try to sell a Kia and call it a Cadillac.<\/p>\n The third point is like the second point.\u00a0 Be a straight shooter.\u00a0 Do not lie.\u00a0 Briefly describe what happened, what led up to the mess, the arrest, your priors, whether you had failures to appear, your family and social history and your employment situation, and so on.\u00a0 Remember that the probation officer had the police report (which is tilted against you) and probably a complete history.\u00a0 Don\u2019t tell a story that sounds like material for the National Enquirer.\u00a0 The interviewer can tell when a lie or exaggeration is called the truth.<\/p>\n Fourth, the judge reads, trusts, and relies on the officer\u2019s pre-sentence report.\u00a0 That report may be “‘the single most important document at both the sentencing and correctional levels of the criminal process.'”FN1. This time with the probation officer really counts.\u00a0 Make the most of the interview.<\/p>\n FN1:\u00a0 (5 LaFave, Criminal Procedure \u00a7\u00a7 26.5(b), at 788 [2d ed], quoting Fennell & Hall, Due Process at Sentencing: An Empirical and Legal Analysis of the Disclosure of Presentence Reports in Federal Courts, 93 Harv L Rev 1613 [1980]).<\/p>\n Some counties have you complete a questionnaire.\u00a0 After reading your answers or listening to you, the probation officer will find aggravating factors (to make the sentence harsher) or mitigating factors (so you get a better sentence).\u00a0 The probation officer will determine if you are probation eligible and recommend fines to be imposed and length of incarceration.<\/p>\n Fifth, honesty does not mean you tell everything.\u00a0 You have to be wise, thoughtful, and careful.\u00a0 The less you say while saying everything you have to say is best.\u00a0 What does that mean?\u00a0 Is that even possible?\u00a0 Consider this rule\u2013it is easier to add words than subtract words.\u00a0 If you always say more, later.\u00a0 Once you say something, you cannot un-ring the bell.<\/p>\n Your words are a two-edged sword, cutting both ways.\u00a0 In rare situations, your statements might boomerang back and be used against you later.\u00a0 It is more likely, however, that saying the wrong thing will cause the harm.\u00a0 Consider a client who hurt a five year old girl.\u00a0 The probation officer asked why he did it.\u00a0 He said he did not know.\u00a0 The probation officer thought he was lying.\u00a0 The defendant may not have fully\u00a0 known, but he was unwilling to really look at himself and his conduct.\u00a0 He could have said he needed help to deal with his insecurities and desires to control or hurt a child.\u00a0 That would have been better, and honest.<\/p>\n Sixth, do not even consider being uncooperative during the interview.\u00a0 Silence, lying, denials, game playing or a less than humble attitude will always work against you; they will be emphasized by your interviewer in the pre-sentence report.\u00a0 Lack of cooperation might undermine your deal and persuade the court to give you a stiffer sentence.\u00a0 Remember you will do more good by working with the probation officer.\u00a0 More importantly, you are working for yourself.<\/p>\n Seventh, get your attorney\u2019s help.\u00a0 You need to be prepared for the interview.\u00a0 Perhaps this article will help.\u00a0 But you should ask your attorney for guidance.\u00a0 Meet with your attorney, if possible.\u00a0 At a minimum, ask your attorney to write to the probation officer to support you.<\/p>\n Finally, let\u2019s emphasize one of the key points.\u00a0 It may be the most difficult part of this interview for you.\u00a0 But the hard part might be the simplest thing.\u00a0 You must do it.\u00a0 Take responsibility for what you did.\u00a0 You want to persuade the interviewer you understand you know right from wrong.\u00a0 Someone taught you the difference between good and bad, right and wrong.\u00a0 Say that you did not honor those who taught you those lessons.\u00a0\u00a0 Did you give in to temptation?\u00a0 Acknowledge it.\u00a0 Did you let a friend or associate talk you into it?\u00a0 Admit you were not strong.\u00a0 If you were angry, agree that you lost your cool.\u00a0 If you were drunk or under the influence, say you cannot let your drink or stash control you. Admit it and recognize you might need therapy or treatment.\u00a0 You messed up.\u00a0 Everybody does.\u00a0 But learn the lessons.<\/p>\n Go into the interview having counted the cost of your conduct.\u00a0 Tell the interviewer you don\u2019t want to pay any more.\u00a0 Look at what you are missing.\u00a0 You won\u2019t see your lover anytime soon.\u00a0 Your son or daughter is growing up.\u00a0 Do you want to miss that first smile or first step?\u00a0 Do you think your girlfriend will wait forever?\u00a0 Who are the people you\u2019ll miss while you are inside?\u00a0 Mention who you have hurt and who will suffer while you are away.\u00a0 Tell the officer you know you have let down the people depending on you.\u00a0 Identify the lesson you have learned and tell the probation officer.\u00a0 If your friends and associates led you astray, say you want to choose better friends, be a better friend, and you want to live a better life.\u00a0 Identify your obstacles and what you intend to do to unlearn bad habits and develop good ones.<\/p>\n You have already changed your plea\u2013the court made a finding of guilt.\u00a0 Don\u2019t destroy your credibility with a flip flop and foolish pride and deny your role in the crime.\u00a0 Yes, I do know there will be some who did not commit any crime or the particular crime admitted.\u00a0 Putting aside why you changed your plea, you still have a very good reason to impress the probation officer.\u00a0 She can recommend that the sentencing judge affirm your deal.\u00a0 At this stage of the battle, you want to lock in the peace treaty.\u00a0 Close the deal, warts and all.\u00a0 It is better than the alternatives.<\/p>\n With those comments to get you thinking, remember how much you can help yourself during the interview.\u00a0 The probation officer may not know what to think of you before he meets you.\u00a0 But you can influence his final conclusions about you.\u00a0 You have credibility\u2013use it.\u00a0 Be honest, straight forward, and real.\u00a0 If you want your denial-of-guilt card game, and the evidence against you is compelling, the probation officer will call your bluff.\u00a0 That will be your only card.\u00a0 The probation officer, prosecutor and judge have the other 51 cards.<\/p>\n Now it is your turn to be your own advocate.\u00a0 Make the most of your interview.\u00a0 Nobody will speak for you.<\/p>\n Andrew D\u00f3sa, of the Law Offices of Andrew D\u00f3sa,<\/p>\n 1516 Oak Street, Suite 310 This article was first published in Crime Justice & America, 2009, by\u00a0Andrew D\u00f3sa, and was written directly to defendants, to assist them as they prepared for the Pre-Sentence Probation Officer Interview. SPEAK FOR YOURSELF–HELP YOURSELF: BE PREPARED FOR THE PROBATION INTERVIEW You have been forced to be silent.\u00a0 From the start of your case through…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[607,608],"class_list":["post-4020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-california-criminal-law-blog","tag-andrew-dosa","tag-dosa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4020"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4020\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5340,"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4020\/revisions\/5340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nadosa@dosalaw.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"