How did he give the advice? I'm not a crim law practitioner, but if a client came to me in his situation, it would be my duty to run all the possible scenarios by him. These are the consequences of a conviction. These are the consequences of a plea.
With extenuating circumstances mentioned on this thread, it would be the duty of the defense attorney to explain to the young man that he had a very good chance of being found not guilty.
That doesn’t seem to have happened. That’s why I have spoken out about what looks to me like legal malpractice.
The district attorney offered Banks a deal -- plead guilty to rape and spend another 18 months in prison, or go to trial and face 41 years to life, CBS Los Angeles reports.Banks said his defense attorney told him, "'When you go into that courtroom the jury is going to see a big black teenager and you're automatically going to be assumed guilty.' Those are her exact words."