Legal Skills Branching Scenario

A Deep Dive Into Legal Proceedings

Start

Inside The Courtroom

After discussing with your attorney how do you decide to plea?

Guilty Except for Insanity (GEI)

Guilty or No Contest

Not Guilty

Case

You have recently been arrested and accused of committing a crime. You have been ordered to appear in court for an arraignment, and are now in the courtroom in front of a judge with your attorney and the district attorney present. The judge proceeds to tell you what crimes you are being charged with and asks you how you want to plea.

After talking with your attorney about the different options you decide to have a...

Bench Trial

Jury Trial

Plead Not Guilty

You have formally told the judge that you didn't commit the crime being accused of and are now starting the process of going to trial. By going to trial the district attorney has to prove you are guilty by presenting evidence. This can be physical evidence such as objects, video footage, photos, etc., or through testimony where a witness is called to give their account of the case being presented. With this in mind your attorney tells you that you have the option of a bench trial (where only the judge will review the evidence and testimony) or a jury trial (where 6 or 12 community members will review the evidence and testimony) to decide if you are guilty or not.

After thinking over the pros and cons of asking for a plea bargain you decide to...

Not ask for a deal

Ask for a deal

Plead Guilty or No Contest

After much discussion with your attorney you have decided to either admit to your crime, or that you are not wanting fight against the charge(s). During this discussion you ask your attorney about options for getting a lesser punishment, and they tell you about the process of negotiating with the district attorney to form a deal in which your entry of a guilty type plea could lead to: lowered charges, a reduction in the number of charges, and/or a recommendation to the judge for a lesser punishment. However, in taking the deal you will not have the option to appeal or go to trial for this case in the future and you must request this option before formally entering your plea.

After some time of waiting for the evaluation results...

your mental health struggles were not confirmed to be the primary cause of committing the crime

your mental health struggles were confirmed to be the primary cause of committing the crime

Plead Guilty Except for Insanity (GEI)

While discussing your case with your attorney the conversation related to your mental health struggles is brought up, and it becomes apparent that these struggles were a significant factor in why you ended up committing the crime. Upon further discussion and consideration of the pros and cons you decide to enter the GEI plea. Before the judge accepts this plea you are to undergo a psychological evaluation to determine if at the time of committing the crime your mental health was indeed the primary cause of having done so.

The jury is done deliberating and everyone returns to hear their verdict of...

Guilty

Not Guilty

The Jury Trial

This trial process is slow and requires an extended period of time to prepare for. Depending on the level of crime, 6 or 12 members from the community are selected to participate. During trial, witnesses from both attorney's are called to give their account of what happened. Some expert witnesses have also been called to give their professional opinions based on time spent working with you and their professional knowledge. A video taken at the time of the crime has also been submitted as proof. Finally, after much debate the district attorney and your own make their closing arguements, and a break has been issued as the jury review everything that was presented and decide on a verdict.

After reviewing, the judge gives their verdict of...

The Bench Trial

Guilty

Not Guilty

This trial process is quicker and requires less time to prepare for as the judge will be the one deciding on the verdict. During trial, witnesses from both attorney's are called to give their account of what happened. Some expert witnesses have also been called to give their professional opinions based on time spent working with you and their professional knowledge. A video taken at the time of the crime has also been submitted as proof. Finally, after much debate the district attorney and your own make their closing arguements, and the judge reviews everything that was presented.

Upon coming to an end of negotiations the district attorney presents you with a final offer.

I decline the deal

I accept the deal

The Plea Bargain

You've decided to ask your attorney for help with negotiating for a lesser sentence. There is a bit of back and forth as you discuss the best possible option with your attorney.

After thinking more about your situation and what you want to do you decide to plea...

No Contest

Guilty

Continue Without Requesting A Deal

After much consideration you've decided to not ask for help in negotiating a deal, and are willing to accept the consequences as they are. You discuss your options with your attorney and they tell you your options are to either plead guilty or no contest. They further explain that the difference between to the two is that by pleading no contest you are not admitting to having done the crime but instead are not wanting to fight against the charges while guilty you are admitting to having done the crime.

What are the highest level of your charges?

Misdemeanor

Felony/Measure 11 Felony

GEI Plea Has Been Accepted

Your plea has been accepted and now the sentencing can begin. In order to sentence the judge must look at what the charges are and their severity. By doing so, this will impact the amount of time spent under the Psychiatric Review Board (PSRB) program and where you will be able to start under the process (OSH or Community).

Proceed to discussion

GEI Plea Has Been Denied

Unfortunately the GEI evaluation reported you do not qualify and your plea has been denied. In order to continue forward you and your attorney discuss and review your available options.

You have successfully completed the trial and the jury found you not guilty of committing your crimes! The judge proceeds to enter in the ruling, and you are finally aquitted and freed from all charges.

Restart

Not Guilty

However, if you feel that your trial was not conducted fairly and you disagree with the judgement you are elligible to appeal. This option would require further discussion with your attorney.

Unfortunately the jury has decided that beyond a resonable doubt you did commit the crime(s) accused. The judge proceeds to enter the conviction and begins sentencing. Sentencing may include the following or a mixture of the following depending on the severity of your charges and the judges ruling:

• Jail or Prison Time
• Probation or Parole
• Fines
• Community Service
• Mandated Treatment (ex: recovery program, mental health program, etc.)
• And other options deemed fit by the judge

Restart

Guilty

You have successfully completed the trial and the judge found you not guilty of committing your crimes! The judge proceeds to enter in the ruling, and you are finally aquitted and freed from all charges.

Not Guilty

Restart

However, if you feel that your trial was not conducted fairly and you disagree with the judgement you are elligible to appeal. This option would require further discussion with your attorney.

Unfortunately the judge has decided that beyond a resonable doubt you did commit the crime(s) accused. The judge proceeds to enter the conviction and begins sentencing. Sentencing may include the following or a mixture of the following depending on the severity of your charges and the judges ruling:

• Jail or Prison Time
• Probation or Parole
• Fines
• Community Service
• Mandated Treatment (ex: recovery program, mental health program, etc.)
• And other options deemed fit by the judge

Guilty

Restart

Upon accepting the district attorney's offer, it is brought up in court to the judge for their final judgement. The judge accepts the terms of your deal and proceeds with sentencing. You are asked to enter in your plea of guilty or no contest (what has been decided upon in the deal), and you are issued your consequences.

Plea baragins may include the following or a mixture of the following depending on the agreement made between you, your attorney, and the prosecutor: (Reduced or dismissal of)

• Jail or Prison Time
• Probation or Parole
• Fines
• Community Service
• Mandated Treatment (ex: recovery program, mental health program, Mental Health Court, etc.)
• And other options deemed fit by the judge

Restart

Accepting the deal

Upon declining the plea bargain you end up talking with your attorney about best possible plea options moving forward.

Restart

declined the deal

For reasons of your own and after discussion with your attorney you've come to the end of your court journey with making the decision of pleading guilty to the crime(s) accused. You proceed forward with sentencing and the judge issues a consequence they deem appropriate based on aspects of your case and the severity of the charges. Upon entering this plea you are no longer able to appeal your case or ask for a plea deal to reduce your charges.

Restart

Plead Guilty

After much decussion with your attorney and for reasons of your own you have desided to enter a plea of no contest. By doing so, you have not admitted to committing the crime(s) accused to the judge, however, you feel that your case would not be able to stand trial successfully to prove your innoscence. As such, you have accepted taking the consequences the judge has deemed appropriate. By entering this plea, this case and the charge(s) associated cannot be used against you in future court proceedings as you have not admitted guilt. By By eter

Restart

Plead no contest

After review of the severity of your charge(s) the board has decided: You will start your time with them at the Oregon State Hospital due to having a "Measure 11" charge(s)orDepending on the type of felony and aspects of your case: shall start your time with them at the Oregon State Hospital or possibly in the community

Restart

end one of pleading gei

Entering PSRB

Upon review of your case and evaluation of possible community risk, the board has deemed: Safe and able to remain in the community upon starting your time with themorUnsafe and shall start your time with them at the Oregon State Hospital until deemed safe and able to return to the community

Restart

ending two of pleading gei

entering psrb

Do you want to customize your branching scenario? Here are some tips:

• Before editing the branching scenario itself, edit in the outline first. This way you’ll get an overview and know which questions and answers go on each page.
• When editing, follow the order of the pages, from the first page or question until you reach the final pages.

Take a look at the structure of this branching scenario. Each page has a number associated with it, contains a question, and leads to several answer options. If on page 4 they choose option A, they go to page 5. But if they choose option B, they go to page 6, which contains a different question. This branching scenario is set up so that if you keep the structure the way it is, there’s no need to edit the interactivity or connections between pages. But you can also modify them. For example, imagine you want to add an option C to the question on page 5, and if they choose this option, they skip to the question on page 10. You’ll just need to set up the 'Go to page' interactivity from option C so that it jumps directly to page 10. As you can see, the most important thing when creating your branching scenario will be planning it well and assigning a number to each page before beginning to edit it. This way, you’ll be able to modify the connections very easily.