Introduction to Criminal Court System

Week 3 | Plea Bargaining

CJA/224 | Introduction to Criminal Court System

     A plea bargain is legally defined as a negotiated agreement between a criminal defendant and a prosecutor.  At which the defendant agrees to plead "guilty" or "no contest" to a crime or crimes they are being accused of.  In doing so the defendant also waives their right to trial.  In return for reduction of the severity of the charges –reducing a murder charge to manslaughter, for example-, dismissal of certain charges, or some other benefit to the defendant such as a reduced sentence.  A defendant is required to uphold his or her end of the deal, such as pleading guilty by particular date, cooperating in the investigation of another offense, or testifying against a co-defendant.  Failure to complete their end of the agreement, and the plea bargain may be revoked.  At which point the defendant may face the original charges which they we charged with.  Plea bargains are becoming far more common than trials.  It is said that almost 90% of criminal convictions are obtained through plea bargains.  These arrangements cannot be altered once they are approved by the court, which is the final step of the process.

     There are two main types of plea bargains used within the criminal justice system.  A Charge Bargain occurs when the prosecutor agrees to allow the defendant to "plead guilty to a lesser charge," or to only some of the charges which they originally had filed against him/her.  For example, a defendant who is charged with burglary may be offered the opportunity to plead guilty to the lesser charge of  attempted burglary.  Or as stated above, a defendant facing a murder charge, could have the opportunity to plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.  A recent example of this type of plea bargain happened earlier this year with Clevland Browns former star quarterback Bernie Kosar.   Kosar was arrested and charged with DUI in September of 2013.  He later pleaded no contest to the lesser charge of reckless operation.

     The other type of plea bargain used within our justice system is sentence bargaining.    A sentence bargain takes place when a defendant is told in advance what his or her sentence will be if and when they plead guilty.  This can help a prosecutor obtain a conviction if, for example, a defendant is facing serious charges.   Defendants who accept are usually afraid of taking their case to trial and running the risk of being hit with the maximum sentence by the judge. Typically, sentence bargains can only be granted if they are approved by the trial judge. Many jurisdictions have place severe limitations on sentence bargaining.  Some of the more common examples of this are observed in the states which still observe and actively practice the death penalty.  A defendant may take the sentence plea bargain of life in prison, without running the risk of facing the death penalty if they are found guilty in a court of law.  A somewhat recent example of this comes in the case of former New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress.  Burress was arrested in 2009 after accidentally shooting himself in a night club with his own firearm.  Although he cause no harm to another person, the handgun which Burress shot himself with was not legally registered.  He faced a minimum of 3 ½ years in prison on two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.  Which he plead no contest to and received a prison sentence of two years.  

   As with most things there are advantages and disadvantages of plea bargains.  It seems as if the advantages are favored to the defendant in a majority of cases.  When a defendant pleads guilty and receives a reduction in sentence, they know right away how long their term behind bars will be.  They do not run the chance of being in jail for any longer than the agreement says.   With good behavior they can pretty much figure out what the term of their sentence will be.  For those who decide to go to trial they may be sentenced to time which is significantly greater than if they had taken the plea.  For the ones who take lesser charges, that may as well result in a lesser sentence, if any sentence at all.  As stated in the DUI examples above, a majority of these individuals avoid jail time, and can receive probation accompanied with a monetary fine.  From a prosecution stand point, a major advantage is getting the guilty plea.  The prosecution has the satisfaction of getting a conviction, and not running the risk of having the case taken to court, where anything can happen because the outcome is in the hands of a jury.  With the court systems overloaded with cases, public defender resources scarce and jails crowded, prosecutors are seeking was to receive convictions in the most cost efficient manner.  With 90% of convictions coming via plea bargain, one can only imagine the already slow legal process should this number ever get significantly lower.