My court experiences have finally come to a close. The deal offered by the prosecuting attorney was improved, and I agreed to accept it. Instead of going to court on Sep 25, which would have involved a jury trial, I went on Sep 29 to make my plea directly to the judge. Thankfully, the judge did not override any aspect of the plea bargain I'd made with the prosecution, so there were no real surprises. And the final outcome was...
My jail time must be paid for by myself at the rate of $30 per day, so I'll owe Dade County $900 altogether for that. I'll also owe court costs to Dade County, although I do not yet know the amount. My lawyer, Tom Norrid, has already been paid for his services. (As much as I would have loved to take this matter into my own hands, I am very grateful for having Tom's assistance throughout this process.)
I met with my lawyer today. As it turns out, the prosecution is not very interested in dropping the felony charge. A deal is being discussed which would mean 30 days in Dade County jail, a probation period (total duration is unknown to me at this point, but at least 6 months would be supervised in Greene County), and a class C felony would remain on my record.
If I do not accept this deal and fight the case in court, then my jury trial begins next Thursday (Sep 25). Fighting the case would mean the possibility of a class B felony conviction, and in a small town such as Greenfield it is not uncommon for the maximum sentence to be given, which would be 7 years prison.
While it really irks me to accept a deal such as this when I feel innocent with regard to the particulars of the felony charge against me, I believe accepting the deal could be the lesser of two evils. There's a plentitude of evidence pointing to my past "transactions" (although they weren't done for profit's sake), and no shortage of statements made by myself which indicated the same. Even though I had no personal intention of selling the marijuana which I possessed on that fateful day last year, I can understand how that could be considered an insignificant fact by the prosecution.
So, there it is. I'll more than likely accept the deal and get acquainted with some jail cell in Dade County, MO., after which I'll have to "clean up my act." No problem, I'm ready for some change anyway.
Yes, thank goodness. My next event in the judicial system is technically September 25, which I believe will be the beginning of my actual trial. The hope is still that my "intent" charge will be dropped before then, as that would avoid the necessity of a trial, but currently the prosecuting attorney is pursuing a full-on class B felony charge of possession with intent to distribute (see RSMo 195.211).
In case you weren't already aware, the amount of marijuana I had in my possession on the day at Stockton Lake was approximately 5.45 grams. If you ask me, that would never be enough to distribute anyway, but I'm sure I won't hear that question. (Needless to say?) I'm looking forward to this story coming to a close. I hope it doesn't take a jury trial to remove the charge, but either way I'll be ready.