What is Pretrial Diversion?
Understanding Basic Procedures in Criminal Law
In many jurisdictions, individuals arrested for the first time are given an option for keeping the crime off of their record without having to go to trial. Pretrial diversion is a program for certain first-time offenders to give them a second chance to avoid being marked by a felony conviction for the rest of their lives. It is known by a variety of names, such as pretrial diversion, pretrial intervention, withheld adjudication, good behavior, withdraw and file, deferred prosecution, and withheld sentencing.
While the details of the program vary somewhat from one place to another, the basic structure is usually the same. An individual who is charged with a first criminal offense of a relatively minor nature (charges like murder or rape are not going to qualify) and who appears to be an individual who is not likely to be a repeat offender may be given the option of pretrial diversion. If the person accepts the offer, then he or she will enter a plea of guilty to the criminal offense, but the judge will not enter an order adjudicating him or her guilty. A person is not guilty until a judge issues an order finding that person guilty, so at this point the person is in limbo between pleading guilty and being convicted.
Rather than find the person guilty, the judge withholds adjudication for a certain period of time, and places the defendant under certain restrictions similar to being on probation. If the individual complies with the terms and conditions of the pretrial diversion agreement, then at the end of the time period the charges are dismissed and the person is not convicted of the crime. This enables someone who made a one-time stupid mistake to get another chance at life with a clean record.
However, if the defendant violates the terms of the deferred prosecution agreement, then he or she will be brought back to court for a sentencing hearing. Common ways a person could violate the program include getting a new arrest, failing a drug test, or failing to complete a court-ordered treatment program. Because the person already entered a guilty plea to the charge, he or she no longer has the right to go to trial on the case. Thus, if the judge determines that the defendant failed to complete the pretrial intervention program, then the defendant will be convicted and sentenced for the crime.
Pretrial diversion is a great way to keep a one-time mistake from ruining a person's life with a criminal conviction. Anyone who gets arrested, does not have a criminal history, and does not want to go to trial should ask about entering pretrial diversion.
