Pickton, TX Criminal Defense Law Firms & Lawyers

The decison of whether to accept or reject a plea offer is yours and yours alone. Your attorney cannot "force" you to take a plea. I wouldn't venture to guess at why he or she wants you to take the offer, without having an opportunity to review the evidence the state does or does not have. If you don't want to take the advice of your appointed lawyer, your only option is to hire a different attorney who will be willing to set the case for trial. 

Yes. You will learn the actual charge[s] filed against you when you appear for arraignment at your first court hearing. The prosecutor can amend at any time he feels he can prove additional or different charges. The charges determine how much prison time would be imposed if convicted. Plea bargaining is to reduce that. When arrested or charged with any crime, the proper questions are, can any evidence obtained in a search or confession be used against you, and can you be convicted, and what can you do? Raise all possible defenses with whatever admissible and credible witnesses, evidence and facts are available for legal arguments, for evidence suppression or other motions, or at trial. You can hire an attorney, unless you know how to effectively represent yourself in court against a professional prosecutor intending to convict. He will try to get a dismissal, diversion, reduction or other decent outcome through plea bargain, or take it to trial if appropriate.

If your felony conviction is a matter of public record, or available to the employer through whatever means he has to obtain such information, then you will not be able to prevent him from discovering the conviction. You may want to consult an attorney about the possibility of getting an expunction to erase the conviction, which is usually quite difficult when you're dealing with felonies because the circumstances under which expunction are granted are very limited.