Essay about Pros and Cons of Plea Bargaining

Calling Your Bluff: How Prosecutors and Defense Attorneys Adapt Plea Bargaining Strategies to Increased Formalization

More than 90 percent of criminal convictions come from negotiated pleas, also known as, plea bargaining. Plea bargains are used every day at both the federal and state court level. They certainly have their “proponents” as well as their “opponents”. A plea bargain basically is any agreement in a criminal case between the prosecutor and defendant whereby the defendant agrees to plead guilty to a particular charge in return for some concession from the prosecutor. That agreement is usually in the form of a defendant pleading guilty to a “lesser” crime with a reduced sentence in return for the prosecuting authority not having to expend the time, energy, expense and manpower in seeking a conviction in a trial of a more serious charge. An evaluation of the evidence against the defendant is usually a significant factor by the prosecutor in determining whether or not a plea bargain should be offered. If the prosecutor’s case is strong, the chances of a plea bargain being offered to the defendant are lessened. While at the same time, if the prosecutor feels that his evidence is on the weaker side, the probability of a plea bargain being offered is enhanced.

Around 90% of all cases are resolved in a plea bargain. A plea bargain is when a prosecutor offers the defendant a lesser sentence if they plead guilty. A bargain will often be accepted if the defendant does not think they can win the case or does not have any compelling evidence. Plea bargains do not happen in court rooms. As depicted in the movie, plea bargaining can happen anywhere. For example, at around the 50-minute mark, Jack Ross offers Daniel Kaffee a plea of involuntary manslaughter outside the basketball court. Plea bargaining is one of the few court actions that do not happen in a court room.

This is the reality of plea bargaining. It is a scare tactic used on the defendants in order for the judges and prosecutors to get the guilty verdict and a sentence that they want. Plea bargaining gives judges the chance to escape trying a lengthy trial. It gives prosecutors certainty of jail time or fines that the state wants. For the defendants, they may get to go home that day with probation and might not be sent to jail or receive a lesser sentence. But these

One reason a plea bargain may occur is because a prosecutors evidence is not as strong as they would like. Prosecutors want their cases to be as strong as possible so that they can expect a win. If they are unsure of what the outcome may be, they prefer to find a way to avoid going to trial. Plea bargains offer prosecutors a speedy conviction without committing to the necessities of a trial. However, this does not only help the prosecutor. The accused may find reduced charges, reduced defense costs, and sometimes even a shorter sentence than originally planned.

Defendants can have their cases completed quickly, meaning guilty pleas can often be arranged within minutes while criminal trials can take days, weeks, or months. It is also beneficial for defendants because plea bargaining gives the defendant and prosecutor some control over the result decision. Plea bargaining not only benefits the defendants it also benefits attorneys because they can solve the case fast and do not need to prepare for trial and can work in other cases, also they get their fee quickly. Public defenders may reduce the large caseloads, and last but not least it keeps judges away from trials which consumes time.

Innocent people are being accused of crimes and confronted with these plea bargains that only offer two very difficult choices, guilty or innocent. People are then intimidated by the prosecutor’s list of multiple charges and lengthy sentences which creates fear in many individuals, especially those who are ignorant of the law. This fear coerces defendants to plead guilty because they want to get out as quickly as possible and put this behind them. It is this coercion that creates the controversy in plea bargains. These deals were initially meant to speed up the court process while cutting offenders some slack. But they have now turned into a quick method for the prosecutor to secure convictions resulting in the spread of

No one knows how juries will react in certain situations. For most defendants the incentives far outweigh the disadvantages. One benefit is receiving a lighter sentence on a lighter charge than they would have received if gone to trial and lost. They pretty well know that they will be found guilty so they help the court by pleading guilty and saving them time. In return, the court offers a lighter sentence for the plea. Another benefit of plea-bargaining is monetary. If represented by private counsel, the defendant usually spends a bundle on their fees. It takes less time and effort to go through a plea bargain that does a trial. Some other reasons are to have less socially stigmatizing offense on one’s record. Another is just to avoid publicity and the hassle of minor offenses.

According to Timothy Sandefur’s In Defense of Plea Bargaining article, “a plea bargain is a contract with the state. The defense agrees to plead guilty to a lesser crime and receive a lesser sentence, rather than go to trial on a more severe charge where he faces the possibility of a harsher sentence.” We are also told in The New York Times Article; Federal Law on Sentencing is Unjust, Judge Rules that “about 97 percent of federal criminal convictions nationwide were the result of plea bargains.”

Plea bargaining is used for a verity of reasons, from lessoning the case burden on the prosecutor to helping them win, what they felt was an unwinnable case. The most controversial part of plea bargaining is that it occurs in private, and is only between the defense and the prosecutor. By hiding the dealings behind plea bargaining prosecutors are able to make “wink wink” deals where they might lessen the charges for one of the defenses attorney’s clients and the defense will encourage another client to accept a deal from the prosecutor. One of the biggest problems with plea bargaining is that innocent people could be found guilty, because they feel coerced into accepting a plea, because if they go to trail (for a crime they didn’t commit) and are found guilty they serve a lot more time than they would have if they accepted the prosecutors

Trials can take up weeks to months and with this process it makes the system run more smoothly and efficient. The main purpose of plea bargaining is this idea that the prosecutor may reduce the charge and offer the defendant a lesser offense. Though this appears to be a quick and easy fix, there are many issues with plea bargains. These issues include the encouragement for the

Despite the fact that many people believe that the criminal justice system is similar to TV crime shows like CSI, Criminal Minds, and Law and Order, the real criminal justice system does not work in such a way as it portrays in these shows. For example, on these crime shows, most cases get solved and are brought to justice via a court trial. Nonetheless, in reality many cases are solved in a plea bargain. Plea bargaining is one of the most controversial issues in the United States. The practice of plea bargaining is necessary due to fact of the high crime rates, and lacking facilities and staffs to try all cases. First of all, let’s find out what is the plea bargaining? Plea bargaining is an arrangement between a prosecutor and a defendant

Plea bargaining has become an essential part of our criminal justice system. A vast majority of criminal cases in the United States are resolved by plea bargaining. Despite the rights that an accused has under the US Constitution, many will still accept a plea bargain. You are presumed innocent until guilt is proven beyond a reasonable doubt, the right to a trial by jury and to have an impartial judge. Even though you have these rights under the Constitution very few defendants are choosing to use them, instead relying on a plea bargain deal to be

A plea bargain (“offer”) is an agreement in a criminal case whereby the prosecuting agency may offer the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge or to the original criminal charge with a proposal of a lighter than the maximum sentence. This opportunity allows defendants to avoid the risk of a conviction at trial on a more serious charge. This also allows all involved parties to keep the court’s calendars light without exhausting resources of a court, potential public defenders, and prosecutors who are all salaried for by the expense of tax payers. If every case in the criminal justice system went to trial, the courts would be so overloaded that they would effectively be shut down.

It has been understood that many successful criminal prosecutions in the United States end not with jury trial, rather yet plea bargain. Plea bargains are agreements between prosecutor and defendant, where the defendant agrees to plead guilty in order to receive a lesser offence or sentence. “The mode of plea-bargaining is most closely associated with high volume, low-stakes cases like misdemeanors and low grade felonies, as well as cases in which the prosecutor and defense lawyer have a good relationship and a long history of past dealings,”(O’Hear,2008). Throughout the following report I will be creating a scenario as a prosecutor proposing a plea offer alongside with a role of defense counsel and preparing a counteroffer