Looking at the latest numbers available (Statistical Information Packet, 2008), it is interesting to note that in 2008 there 76,427 total convictions in the federal system. Of those, 96.3% of defendants pled guilty and only 3.7% took their case to trial.
Even more interesting is that in the Western District of Texas, there were a total of 7,232 convictions. Of those, 98.7% pled guilty and a mere 1.3% went to trial.
By comparison, in Texas state court 97.3% of felony convictions were the result of a guilty plea and 2.7% of convictions resulted from a trial.
So why aren’t more federal defendants in this part of Texas going to trial?
It can’t be because the prosecutors are recommending lower sentences, because they aren’t. In fact, given that in almost all cases the judges of the Western District sentenced lower than the national average, maybe losing that “acceptance of responsibility” reduction isn’t that big of a deal!
Even for someone who loves numbers and statistics as much as I do, I am continually amazed at how much data the United States government collects.
For example, the United States Sentencing Commission publishes quarterly and annual reports on federal sentencing averages. This is useful information for someone who might be wondering what the average sentence for a federal drug trafficking offense might be (83.2 months nationally, while only 46.5 months in the Western District).
And that leads to an interesting observation: a defendant in the Western District of Texas is likely to find more mercy from the judge than from the Department of Justice.
In almost every category of offense, the Western District of Texas gives lower average sentences than the rest of the nation (here, page 10). The four notable exceptions are the offense categories of Embezzlement, Forgery, Bribery, and Tax.
However, where the Western District lags behind the rest of the nation is in government sponsored below range sentences. Nationally, US Attorneys ask for below range sentences in 25.6% of all cases (that’s one out of four!). In the Western District, though, the government only seeks reduced sentences in 9.5% of all cases (that’s one out of ten!) (here, page 11).
Nationally, federal judges sentence above the guideline range in 1.5% of all cases, and Western District judges sentence above the guideline range in 1.8% of all cases.
So, for the average defendant in the Western District of Texas, that defendant probably shouldn’t fear the judge – but rather, the prosecutor.
The federal CJA (Criminal Justice Act) rates for mileage changed effective January 1, 2009. Therefore, I needed to update my rate and mileage charts. In case you need a similar chart, feel free to print mine out and stick it somewhere:
Federal CJA Hourly Rates
$90 per hour: 5/1/02 to 12/31/05
$92 per hour: 1/1/06 to 5/19/07
$94 per hour: 5/20/07 to 12/31/07
$100 per hour: 1/1/08 to Today
Federal CJA Mileage Chart
36.5 cents per mile: 1/21/02 to 12/31/02
36.0 cents per mile: 1/1/03 to 12/31/03
37.5 cents per mile: 1/1/04 to 2/3/05
40.5 cents per mile: 2/4/05 to 8/31/05
48.5 cents per mile: 9/1/05 to 12/31/05
44.5 cents per mile: 1/1/06 to 1/31/07
48.5 cents per mile: 2/1/07 to 3/18/08
50.5 cents per mile: 3/19/08 to 7/31/08
58.5 cents per mile: 8/1/08 to 12/31/08
55.0 cents per mile: 1/1/09 to Today
Federal Law | jeffparker | 
January 2, 2010 9:18 am | 
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