Is plea bargaining actually the correct tool for every person?

 

Is plea bargaining actually the correct tool for every person?

Despite the numerous advantages that plea bargaining offers, determining whether it is the right decision for every case can be a challenging and complex task. By consulting and taking guidance from a skilled legal expert or professional, one can gain valuable insight into the likelihood of winning during a trial and evaluate the potential consequences of a judgement against oneself.

What differentiates plea bargaining from probation and parole?

 

What differentiates plea bargaining from probation and parole?

Plea bargaining is a pre-trial negotiation process, whereas probation is an alternative to incarceration for convicted offenders, and parole is the supervised release of prisoners before their full sentence is served. Each serves a different purpose within the criminal justice system.

Is there any difference between plea bargaining and confession?

 

Is there any difference between plea bargaining and confession?

While plea bargaining and confession both involve the admission of guilt by the accused, the main distinction resides in the context and procedure. Plea bargaining is a negotiated settlement, whereas in confession there is an unambiguous acknowledgement of responsibility without any potential for negotiation or willingness to compromise or make concessions. Additionally, a confession can be used as evidence against the accused in court, while a plea agreement achieved through plea bargaining before implementation necessitates approval from the court.

 

Potential disadvantages of plea bargaining

• By making a plea of bargaining, the accused no doubt accepts his guilt, and he even gets punished for his wrong, but many times it is seen that the accused often escapes to get a reasonable punishment, which results in no much improvement in his behaviour. Also, plea bargaining can result in the accused person avoiding accountability for their actions, as they are able to plead guilty to a lesser charge without having to go through a trial. This is a form of leniency that may not be justified in some instances. 
• In most cases, the victim is a common person who does not know his rights, and if he doesn’t get a good attorney who could give him better advice, the decisions he makes will affect him as well as society in the long term. So it is always advisable to go for a good advocate. The guilty person may, after coming out without facing a proper sentence, try again to attack the victim.
• By pleading a sentence, the process of an ordinary trial need not be complied with. This results in quickly completing the trial, but the downside of this is that the constitutional right of the victim to get a complete trial is affected. This depends on the will of the person as to whether he is satisfied with the decision of the court in which plea bargaining was made or he wants more strict punishment for the offender by going through a complete process, which will be difficult for the defendant to comply with.
• By accepting guilt even under plea bargaining, the defendant will be considered to have a criminal record, which could be problematic for him in the future. Moreover, he also has to pay the required costs until the trial is completed.
• By pleading guilty to a lesser charge, the accused person is giving up their right to a fair trial. This can be problematic if the accused is innocent and is pressured into pleading guilty to avoid the risk of a harsher sentence at trial.
• In cases of plea bargaining, the judge has a major role in finalising whether the accused plea is to be entertained or not. There are various factors that determine it, such as the nature and gravity of the offence, the role of the accused in the commission of the crime, the needs of the victim, and the public interest.
• There are chances that the accused is made to choose the route of plea bargaining by misrepresenting its benefit, and because there are fewer chances for the victim to appeal in such cases, the victim has to face punishment even if he is innocent in reality.
• The clean record of a person who is made to face a sentence in one or another case gets tarnished, because of which the person might lose his job or find difficulty looking for a new job. During that time, the person is also unable to fulfil his domestic obligations. 
• The victim, in the hope of having the accused punished to the maximum possible extent for his wrong, feels cheated by the attorney, who tries to make him understand the concept of plea bargaining. A common man, in his emotions, doesn’t understand the workings of the system much and just wants to grill the wrongdoer for his wrong. But unfortunately, this is not how the system works.

 

Benefits of plea bargaining

Benefits to the defendant

• A major reason why a person prefers to accept his guilt under the plea bargaining concept is that he believes that by accepting the charges and making a plea, he will be given some relief in the punishment, and there could be some chance that he will, even if given punishment, not be given the maximum that is prescribed for that offence. And even if the sentence is not reduced, he may get punishment for some less severe charges.
• This is no hidden fact that even after numerous reforms in the judicial system, a common man still has to face many troubles. So instead of getting crushed in the system and facing stress and anxiety, a person prefers to quickly finish the trial by accepting his guilt and making a plea bargain along with it.
• By making the plea, a guilty person no doubt still has to face some punishment, but that is comparatively less than what he would often have to face. And this brings the possibility of maintaining his family ties and fulfilling his obligations towards his family.
• Because of the quick completion of the trial, the news regarding facing the trial by the defendant will not widely circulate in the society, and thus the person has to face less stigma from the society. This is often used to avoid publicity and getting embarrassed.
• Another benefit a defendant finds is that either he chooses to go with a complete trial or shortens the trial by accepting his guilt. He has to pay the necessary expenses involved in the case and devote the time to complete the court proceedings; thus, he prefers to choose the latter option and get some relief this way.

Benefits to the attorney

• The prosecutors (victim side attorney appointed by the state) as well as the defence attorney, by making the defendant agree to plead guilty, reduce their caseload and save their time in preparing for the upcoming matters. This way, they could focus on other more severe offence cases pending with them as well as get some time for themselves.
• The prosecutor’s conviction rate is also improved if the defendant agrees to accept his guilt.
• The resources of the attorney’s, which otherwise would be involved in completing the trial, are also saved and can be devoted to other cases to dispose of them more quickly and efficiently.

Benefits to the judges

• The trial gets shortened by accepting the charges, which saves the time of the judges as such cases are quickly disposed of.
• Through quick disposal of the cases through plea bargaining, the caseload of the courts is also reduced. This makes the per judge case pendency ratio less, which would improve their efficiency as they could focus on other severe offence cases with adequate time.
• Instead of putting the resources for investigating the matter, managing and organising documents, etc., the court can divert such resources into other serious offence cases whose trial is needed to be completed more urgently.
• By accepting the guilt and making a plea of bargaining the sentence or charge, the defendant closes his doors to making the order change or reversed in the appeal stage. He cannot, in an ordinary manner, go to a higher court to set aside his punishment because he himself accepts his guilt. Although he has other remedies to deal with this issue, because of the limited scope for appeal, the higher judges will have to deal with a comparatively smaller number of cases, which will come from the subordinate courts.
• The judge, along with the attorney, shares the responsibility of determining the guilt as well as the sentence that can be imposed on the defendant once he makes a plea of bargaining his sentence by accepting his guilt.

Benefits to the victim

• If the attorney’s are successful in making the defendant ready to accept his guilt either through the plea bargaining process, which could lessen his sentence, the victim will be relieved of the anxiety about whether he will get justice or not, as the defendant in such a case will be declared guilty with certainty if other circumstances also align with it.
• The victim had to undergo mental stress, trauma, and anxiety during the court proceedings, but if the defendant chooses the path of plea bargaining, the victim will also get some relief from all this stress. Sometimes people prefer their mental peace more than getting the accused punished for the wrong done by him.

Benefits to other classes of persons

• The work burden of the police officials also gets reduced, as otherwise they would be involved in all such court proceedings and wouldn’t get enough time to maintain law and order on the ground level.
• The time a guilty or accused person spends in jail puts an additional burden on the jail authorities. Thus, spending less time in jail will also be beneficial for jail staff and management.
• Along with it, the more time a person spends in jail, the higher are the chances that he will indulge in such wrong-minded people, and once he gets out, he will get involved in a bigger crime. Thus, releasing the person at an appropriate time is sometimes beneficial. 
• Believing in the reformation of the offenders, they are sent to rehabilitation centres, which are run by the state or centre, and to make them run, the money of the taxpayers is used. Thus, by accepting the guilt and making a plea to lessen his sentence, a person acknowledges his mistake and wants a chance to improve himself. This in itself is a reformation, and thus fewer people will be needed to be sent to the rehab centres.

Alford plea

 

Alford plea

Under this plea, the defendant maintains his innocence but also admits that the prosecution has enough evidence that is likely to secure his conviction. This way, the defendant makes a plea deal without explicitly admitting his guilt. Thus, the defendant here is able to maintain his innocence in the eyes of the court.

 

Types of plea bargaining

There are numerous forms of plea bargaining, and each of its forms has its nuances, which can be employed depending on the circumstances of each case. A few of them are as follows:

Charge bargaining

This is the form of bargaining in which the defendant agrees to plead guilty to the offence in exchange for a lesser serious charge than the one initially filed by the prosecution, in which there were much more serious charges. This kind of bargaining is permissible in cases where the maximum punishment is imprisonment for seven years or less.

Sentence bargaining

In this form of bargaining, the defendant or the accused agrees to plead guilty to the offence on the original charges filed by the prosecution in expectation of receiving a lesser sentence than they might receive if convicted at the trial.