Plea Barganing - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages A plea bargain permits both parties to keep away from a long criminal trial and may permit criminal defendants to stay protected from the risk of conviction at trial on a more grave charge. For instance, suppose there is a defendant of a criminal case charged with a crime robbery, the conviction of which would need imprisonment in state jail, he or she may be offered the chance to plead the guilty party to a misdemeanor robbery charge, which may not carry jail time. Plea bargaining is “the process whereby a criminal defendant and prosecutor reach a mutually satisfactory disposition of a criminal case, subject to court approval” (Plea Bargaining 2012 para. 1). It can conclude a particular criminal case without a proceeding or a trial. It becomes successful when plea bargaining of the case results in a plea agreement between the defendant and prosecutor. In this agreement, “the defendant agrees to plead guilty without a trial, and, in return, the prosecutor agrees to dismiss certain charges or make favorable sentence recommendations to the court. Plea bargaining is expressly authorized in statutes and in court rules” (Plea Bargaining 2012 para. 2).
This is generally a known type of plea. It engages a negotiation of the particular charges (counts) or offenses that the defendant of the case will face at the proceeding or trial. Generally, in return for an appeal of "guilty" to a smaller charge, the prosecutor of the case will dismiss the superior or other charge(s) or counts. Example, instead of discharging charges for a first-degree murder, a prosecutor may admit a "guilty" appeal for manslaughter. Charge bargaining plays an empirically significant role in determining outcomes of the sentencing. In this type of bargaining, the defendant of the case pleads guilty in exchange for reducing the charges. Depending on the seriousness of the initial charge of the case, the only one who stands to achieve from charge bargaining is the accused or the ...Download file to see next pagesRead More