Alternative sentencing is a fancy legal term for coming up with something else to do with somebody. A lot of times if somebody has very little criminal history, or it’s a very weak case and the prosecutor knows it’s a weak case, we start looking at different options.
That can look like a lot of different things. Sometimes it’s a deferred prosecution, where the prosecutor agrees that if the client does certain things, the prosecutor will then dismiss the case. That is good. Any time I can tell a client, ‘You’re going to do 20 hours of community service for a dismissal of the case,’ that’s a no-brainer.
It can also mean, ‘Hey the prosecutor wants X, and I want alternative sentencing to that.’
Alternative sentencing can mean a lot of things, so it is important to make sure that the judge and the prosecutor know what your attorney is saying when they use that term. And it is important to choose an attorney who can use it to your advantage.