Plea Bargains Essays - Legal Terms, Criminal Law, Plea Bargain, Plea

The Plea Bargaining System Your Name CJS/220 Date Your Name The plea bargain is a system used by in the vast majority of cases throughout the United States. Almost 90% of cases end in a plea bargain of some type. These types will be discussed later in this paper. Plea bargains have a big impact on our justice system, but some believe that this system does not help; in fact they believe that they are just allowing criminals to get back on the street. I believe it works. The basic idea for plea bargains is when the defendant waives their right to trial by pleading guilty to the crime he or she has been charged with, for a lesser charge or smaller punishment. In return the defendant usually gives a statement that proves his or her guilt. The purpose of this is to also keep from going through a trial, and taking up time for cases that cannot come to a plea bargain. An example of this would be if a defendant was charged with a theft charge that is serious enough to be classified as a felony, may give their testimony about everything that happened, and this will be seen as the defendant cooperating and they may give him a lesser charge of misdemeanor theft. In my reading I found two types of plea bargains, one is the charge plea bargain which pleading guilty for a lesser charge. The other bargain type is the sentence bargain, which is when the defendant pleads guilty to the charged crime but for a lesser sentence. The charge plea bargain will give the defendant the opportunity to avoid a felony, having a harsher charge on his or her record, as well as avoid a harsher sentence. It is the most common type of plea bargain. The sentence bargain allows the defendant to know in advance what his or her sentence will be if they cooperate. However this bargain is not usually used and if it is, they must be approved through the trial judge first. One positive part of both plea bargains is that it allows the courts to keep moving, to handle cases where the prosecution and defense cannot work on an agreement. One big positive about using both plea bargains is getting the defendant to confess to their crime. The prosecution basis is to find evidence of guilt and to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty, so to get a defendant to plead guilty through a plea bargain, will guarantee a conviction. Another positive is that the defense does not need to do much work, but usually still receives the same amount as they normally would. The defendant could benefit in a high profile case, if he or she receives a sentence bargain, because the media will not know that there was any type of deal because the charge will be the same but the sentence will actually be more lenient. One negative of the charge type of plea bargaining is that a defendant may choose to confess just to get a reduced charge, even if they are not guilty. They could do the same with the sentence type of plea bargain because they may feel as though if they do not plead guilty, and in the slight chance the jury is convinced through the prosecution that he or she is guilty, then he or she could get the maximum sentence. Another negative of using either plea bargains is that they are not final until the court agrees. The court must agree to all terms of the plea bargain before it will be allowed. Using plea bargains could affect the defense in a negative way, because once the defendant agrees to the plea he or she will not be able to appeal the decision later on. One argument that some would say about plea bargains is that it is just another way to let criminals especially violent ones off without sever consequences. Some will say that plea bargains serve to make punishments more sever then less severe, which I think we all know is not the case. Most criminals will accept a plea bargain only to benefit him or herself;