When the prosecutor takes a look at the jury pool, she’ll be thinking plea.
Here’s the catch. If you plea guilty then some of the charges get dropped. Meaning less, fines, lawyer fees, and avoiding prison time. It saves you a lot of money, and you will move quicker to a normal life in a few years.
If she chooses to fight it in court, then you will face all charges. In other words she will be in court for a long time and that can get very expensive. Not only that but chances of you winning are still slim.
Since it’s an open shut case. There is no question if she did it. So she will be found guilty on that county. Now she can say her motivation on why she did it in hopes to get a judge to give her a minimum prison sentence. The law says if found guilty, then you have minimum prison time. If she is found guilty on all 4 counts because she wanted to fight it in court. She is probably looking at a minimum of 10 years in prison would be my guess? I really don’t know the sentencing guide lines of 2 felonies and 2 misdemeanors. Plus she will owe a large fine, have to pay for the new statue, and several years on probation where she has to visit and pay the probation officer.
In other words life is much easier if you plea guilty. Unfortunately, that’s the way it works. Part of the reason why we have the largest prison population in the world.