Better Call Saul is back with a new episode tonight on AMC and Jimmy, aka James “Jimmy” Morgan McGill and Saul Goodman, is facing a few choices when it comes to his legal conclusion.
On tonight’s episode, Jimmy will find himself in court, preparing to give the judge a “not guilty” plea and it sounds like he has a plan on how to get out of this mess. Jimmy explains his plan to DDA Bill Oakley, hoping he can change his one felony to a misdemeanor to avoid jail time. While Oakley feels it’s a good idea, he’s not the one to represent him.
Deputy district attorney Kyra Hay is the one to do so and she presents a Pre-Prosecution Diversion, which is also known as a PPD.
This is a special program, where a person can plead guilty and get a chance to avoid jail time because the person has a small likelihood of re-offending.
This would be offered to a person charged with a felony. While it is an opportunity to avoid jail time, it’s also an opportunity to have all charges dismissed. It sounds like a program too good to be true, something that conveniently happens on television.
But is a PPD a real thing? The United States Department of Justice actually talks about this program on their website.
Here, the program is called Pretrial Diversion but the goal is the same. The offenders aren’t brought to trial but are diverted back at the pre-charge phase. In this case, the charges will be dismissed against them if they follow through with the special program. If participants don’t comply, they are returned to face prosecution.
Better Call Saul airs Mondays at 9/8c on AMC.
Some jurisdictions have what is called PBJ or Probation Before Judgement. If you are not likely to reoffend and follow through on your probation with no other offenses then your record can be expunged which means it goes away like it never happened.