Q: In a criminal trial, is a lawyer allow to stop the trial while the jury is deliberating?
A:
GREAT QUESTION.
It's not really up to the attorney to stop the trial. She or he can ask the Judge to stop the trial; but, normally that would be solely for the purpose of withdrawing a "not guilty" plea and possibly pleading guilty.
The State is NOT required to offer another plea once it's been rejected; nor is the Court required to accept a plea while the Jury is deliberating.
There is a LOT of discretion involved and frankly, I've only seen something like that happen after the Jury has been out for a while and the STATE offers a better plea. Clearly, it can be complicated. More background info would help.
Even if a plea the trial was stopped and a plea entered, one would expect that to be an "open plea."
That means the accused pleads guilty, as charged and accepts the sentence of the Court without any agreement.
I personally can't imagine why someone would do that. I guess there could be some reason I'm not thinking of.
Best bet: Trust the attorney and their advice.
Bill Powers
North Carolina Criminal Defense Lawyer
CarolinaAttorneys.com
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