Joe Esquer took the same chance, choosing a trial instead of a plea. He walked out of jail a free man. In the post-three strikes era, business looks much the same in California courthouses as it always has.
Prosecutors take a hard line in some cases and bargain in others.
Some defendants get the maximum, some beat the charges. But it's not the same for three strikes defendants. The law, with its threat of 25 years to life, has raised the stakes. Now, three strikes candidates must think long and hard about whether to accept plea offers from prosecutors, who have the power to get prior convictions dismissed in the furtherance of justice, sidestepping the mandatory three strikes penalty. In effect, prosecutors have power they never had before, taking on the role of quasi judges and deciding up front what sentence a defendant will face.