Why Do San Mateo County Judges Only Make The Decisions On Sentencing A Defendant?
Why do San Mateo County judges alone decide sentencing? Oakland attorney Andrew Dósa isn't sure, suspecting a local judicial policy. Judges always hold final say on a sentence—no deal happens without the judge's agreement—but here they keep prosecutors out of the sentencing input entirely. In his view, that's a real disadvantage for the defendant, who loses a negotiating channel.
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Answered by Andrew Dósa · Oakland, CA
Highlights
— why he questions cutting the trial prosecutor out of sentencing
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Why do San Mateo judges alone decide sentencing?
He isn't sure, suspecting a local judicial policy—judges always hold final say, since no deal happens without the judge's agreement, but here they keep prosecutors out of the sentencing input entirely, which he sees as a real disadvantage for the defendant, who loses a negotiating channel.
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