That doesn&#x27;t even begin to scratch the surface. In order to even <i>get</i> to that point, you have to:<p>- Come up with the funds to get out of prison in the first place ($10,000 <i>cash</i> in my case, some % of which you typically never see again; 40% in PA)<p>- Find <i>and still have funds to retain</i> a competent attorney<p>- Navigate the interminable legal process, part of which means spending half a day sitting around in a courtroom, over and over and over again, either burning vacation days, or losing your job, or both (not to mention childcare, etc.)<p>- Reject the coercive and unethical plea bargain they try to scare you into<p>- Waste a day in court at least once a month, just so the judge can satisfy himself that things are moving along<p>- Research and retain your own experts, obtain mountains of records, go over what happened and everything leading up to it about a million times with a million different people (it&#x27;s basically a part-time job)<p>- Try not to worry obsessively about every aspect of what happened and what you might say<p>- Take more time off to actually <i>go</i> to trial (and jury selection, and other misc. trial prep)<p>- Leave your fate in the hands of people who may not be competent, may not be educated, and by-and-large skew toward favoring law enforcement<p>I have about a million things going for me. I own my own (moderately successful) company, and I have a high profile in a relatively affluent community&#x2F;industry. That buys me an unreasonably high degree of financial and scheduling flexibility that most people don&#x27;t have. If not for those things, my family and I would be crushed. If this system is designed to do anything, it&#x27;s designed to crush the people who get caught in it, with no thought to the consequences for society.