Five things you should know before pleading guilty

by Atty. Emmanuel Samonte Tipon 

“Why should I plead guilty when I’m not guilty,” retorted former First Lady Imelda Marcos, when her first lawyer advised her to plead guilty to charges of racketeering, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and mail fraud for allegedly purchasing four buildings in New York with Philippine government money.  Her lawyer reportedly told her that he could negotiate a plea bargain agreement so that she would get not more than five years in jail rather than twenty years if she went to trial and lost. Mrs. Marcos, incidentally, is celebrating her 85th birthday today, July 3, 2014. She was acquitted on her 61st birthday, July 3, 1990.

Mrs. Marcos’ friend Doris Duke, a multimillionaire heiress, called Honolulu attorney Ron Oldenburg to look for another lawyer. Oldenburg talked with and recommended Gerry Spence, a well-known criminal defense attorney. Mrs. Marcos retained him. Spence hired private investigators to look into the background of the potential government witnesses to be used in cross-examining them. When certain witnesses learned that derogatory information about them had been discovered, they quickly fled back to Manila.

“There was no evidence,” said the jury forewoman, Catherine Balton. “It was a totally silly case,” said Thomas O’Rourke, another juror. New York Times, July 3, 1990. “Jurors called the government's case inadequate, and some were apparently convinced that political factors influenced the prosecution.” Los Angeles Times, July 3, 1990. After the verdict, Gerry Spence, who did not present a single witness for the defense, said, ''This just proves that a single juror has more power than the United States Government itself.'' New York Times, July 3, 1990.

Can you imagine the injustice that Mrs. Marcos would have suffered if she had followed the advice of her first lawyer to plead guilty?  Unfortunately, thousands of innocent defendants charged with criminal offenses plead guilty because they are victims of incompetent and lazy lawyers who simply tell them to plead guilty otherwise they will suffer long jail terms if they go to trial and lose. These poor defendants are not like Mrs. Marcos who does not listen to stupid advice.

My son Noel and I recently won a case in the U.S. Court of Appeals where we sought to set aside a guilty plea by a Filipino defendant on the ground that he was a victim of ineffective assistance of counsel who advised him to plead guilty to drug distribution charges in exchange for a one year prison term otherwise he would face 20-40 years if he went to trial and lost, without telling him that the offense would result in mandatory deportation. A judge said he would have suffered only 18 months in jail if he went to trial and lost. U.S. v. Ramiro.

We asked Noel Tipon and Tim Bilecki, partners in the Bilecki and Tipon law firm in Honolulu, the Premier Law Firm defending military service members in the Pacific Rim, and who also defend civilians, what a person charged with a criminal offense should do when the first lawyer contacted says “just plead guilty”.

According to them, these are “The Top 5 Things Every Defendant Should Know Before Pleading Guilty.”

1. Know and review all of the evidence against you with your lawyer.
2. Know for sure that the government can prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
3. Know you are really getting some kind of benefit for pleading guilty and making it easy on the government.
4. Know that your are pleading guilty for yourself, not for your lawyer or anybody else.
5. Know and explore all possible defenses with your lawyer.

Bilecki and Tipon discussed the details of these “Top 5 things” on “The Tipon Report” radio program on KNDI in Honolulu on July 3 which this writer co-hosts with son Noel. Their private investigator is Kiamalu Consulting & Investigations, headed by Nathan Moores.


Atty. Tipon has a Master of Laws degree from Yale Law School and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of the Philippines. He specializes in immigration law and criminal defense. Office: 900 Fort Street, Suite 1110, Honolulu, HI 96813. Tel. (808) 225-2645. E-Mail: filamlaw@yahoo.com. Websites:  www.MilitaryandCriminalLaw.com. He is from Laoag City and Magsingal, Ilocos Sur. He served as an Immigration Officer. He is co-author of “Immigration Law Service, 1st ed.,” an 8-volume practice guide for immigration officers and lawyers. This article is a general overview of the subject matter discussed and is not intended as legal advice. No warranty is made by the writer or publisher as to its completeness or correctness at the time of publication. No attorney-client relationship is established between the writer and readers relying upon and/or acting pursuant to the contents of this article.)