When a New Jersey resident is charged with a serious crime, a number of things are immediately set into motion. The person charged must work in conjunction with a criminal defense attorney to determine the best course of action. No two cases are alike, and the optimal approach is different for each individual.
In making the decision on how to move forward, the defense attorney begins by discussing the case with his or her client and reviewing the evidence held by the prosecution. When there is sufficient evidence to suggest that a guilty verdict is likely, many people will choose to pursue negotiations for a plea deal rather than take the matter to trial. Such is the case for a New Jersey woman who is accused of killing a man by injecting silicone into his penis.
The procedure was done at the man's request, as part of the services offered by a woman posing as a cosmetologist. The woman, 38 years of age, has no medical training but has been offering silicone injection services for a number of years. The material was injected into the breasts, buttocks and genitals of clients in an attempt at enhancing those areas.
One of the woman's clients, a 22-year-old man, died after an injection caused a silicone embolism. The woman who administered the injection was charged with reckless manslaughter. In accepting responsibility for that charge, the plea agreement allows her to avoid several previous charges related to other injections.
As this New Jersey case illustrates, there are instances in which accepting a plea agreement is preferable to going to trial on serious criminal charges. While this woman will have to accept sentencing for reckless manslaughter, she will avoid the punitive measures that might have come had she been found guilty on the additional charges. Taking such a deal is never an easy decision to make, but with the right legal guidance, it is often the best possible criminal defense option.
Source: nydailynews.com, "New Jersey woman pleads guilty to deadly penis silicone injection, escapes charges for butt, breast injections", Nina Golgowski, Sept. 9, 2015