Editing Allocution (section)

==United States==
In most of the United States, defendants are allowed the opportunity to allocute before a sentence is passed. Some jurisdictions hold that as an absolute right. In its absence, a sentence but not the conviction may be overturned, resulting in the need for a new sentencing hearing. In the federal system, [[Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure]] 32(i)(4) provides that the court must "address the defendant personally in order to permit the defendant to speak or present any information to mitigate the sentence".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcrmp/Rule32.htm|title=Rule 32. Sentencing and Judgment|date=30 November 2011|website=LII / Legal Information Institute|access-date=22 December 2017}}</ref>

The [[Federal Public Defender]] recommends that defendants speak in terms of how a lenient sentence will be sufficient but not greater than necessary to comply with the statutory directives set forth in {{uscsub|18|3553|a}}.<ref>{{Cite web|author1=Defender Services Office Training Division|publisher=Administrative Office of the United States Courts|location=Washington, DC |url=https://www.fd.org/search/site/allocution |title=Allocution pleading |access-date=22 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019195150/http://fd.org/pdf_lib/allocution%20pleading.pdf |archive-date=19 October 2011 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>