Different Types Of Plea Bargaining

Plea Bargaining Paper

Plea bargaining is defined as an agreement between a prosecutor and a defendant whereby the defendant is allowed to plead guilty to a lesser charge rather than risk conviction for a grave crime in order to avoid a protracted trial or to win the defendant's cooperation as a witness ("Plea Bargaining", 2014). A plea bargain can make a substantial difference in the sentencing outcome of a defendant. The prosecution uses this type of bargaining for leverage against the defendant. This means the defendant can be offered to give a testimony of the events that can eventually lead to a charge and conviction of a higher profiled case. This is typically the case; usually the prosecution offers a plea bargain to reduce on court time

This happens when a defendant agrees to plead guilty to a lesser charge provided that greater charges will be dismissed ("Plea Bargains: In Depth", 2014). With a charge bargain, an example would be when a drunk driver is driving a vehicle with a suspended license. The lesser charge would be that of drunk driving so the defendant would plead guilty to drunk driving and the portion with a suspended license would be dropped by the prosecution. The second type of plea bargaining is a sentence bargain this occurs when a defendant is told in advance what his sentence will be if he pleads guilty ("How Does Plea Bargaining Work?", 2011). This type of bargain helps the prosecutor obtain a conviction. A good example would be a defendant facing a serious charge, but they are afraid of receiving the max penalty, the prosecution can then offer a lesser sentence for a guilty plea. With everything in the world, there are positive and negative aspects of plea

In this portion, a few of these pros and cons will be described from both sides. To begin let's cover the positives of plea bargaining. Did you know that ninety percent of all criminal convictions come from negotiating pleas ("Plea Bargaining Pros and Cons", 2014). Plea bargaining can take away the uncertainty of a criminal trial, and the defendant can avoid maximum sentencing. Plea bargaining can also free up prosecutors to handle more cases, and society benefits as well because court congestion is lessened when these types of deals are made. The negative aspects that can be thought of is first it seems that the defendant is being let go by committing his real crime. Secondly, a judge can argue that plea bargaining led to a poor police investigation. Thirdly, an individual can feel as if their constitutional rights have been violated by their right to a trial by jury being taken away. Finally instead of pursuing justice the parties rely on making deals instead of getting justice (Info,