Plea Bargaining

Plea Bargaining

The criminal courts of Middlesex County, Massachusetts in the years of 1780-1900 were the center of legal innovation from which new ideas and practices spread to other cities throughout America. As manufacturing grew and various workshops multiplied cities began to flourish and grow. All combined to create a sense of massive change, crisis, and social transformation, so the daily activities in the legal system began to change. Plea bargaining would grant pardons to accomplices in criminal cases upon the defendant's conviction, or execution upon the defendant's acquittal. During this time many courts did not favor guilty pleas under any circumstance. However, over the years the lower and middle-tier courts had made various transformations on handling guilty pleas. In 1880, the lower courts had an increase in cases that were resolved by a plea of guilty. Plea bargaining made a strong impact in the middle-tier Superior Courts as the years progressed on.

The evolution of plea bargaining would give way to the frequency with which guilty pleas were entered to influence their meaning in courthouses across America. Vogel (2007, p. 27) stated that, plea bargaining did not exist in England or any other country outside of the United States. In fact, many defendants rarely plead guilty altogether until the last quarter of the nineteenth century. As the political and legal climate took a turn plea bargaining became well-established system in American criminal courts. It would fundamentally change the criminal justice system over time.

The plea bargaining process is very important to the criminal justice system because without it the criminal justice system would grind to a halt. Plea bargaining is important because if every case went to trial it would take years for criminals to get from the time of arrest until the time of trial. Plea bargaining can conclude a criminal case without trial. When it is successful, plea bargaining results in a plea agreement between the prosecutor and defendant. In this agreement, the defendant agrees to plead guilty without having a trial, and, in return, the prosecutor agrees to dismiss certain charges or make a sentence recommendation to the court. Plea bargains are only offers that are made, and either side can choose to deny the plea bargain and continue on with the trial. The purpose of plea bargaining is to avoid trial. (Schmalleger, 2006, p. 35) This benefits the prosecution if they do not have enough evidence for the trial. For the defense their client may receive a lighter sentence, or possibly dismissal of some of the charges.

There are different types of plea bargains that are made. The first type of plea bargain is a charge bargaining. With charge bargaining the prosecutor offers to reduce the charges that are placed against the defendant. This is used when a defendant pleads guilty to a less serious crime than the one originally imposed. (Vogel, 2007, p. 40) The second type of plea bargaining is a sentence bargaining. When the prosecutor offers a sentence bargain they are agreeing to reduce the sentence that is faced for the crime. In exchange for pleading guilty, the defendant will receive a lighter sentence than was originally faced. This is used when the defendant pleads guilty knowing what sentence will be given. The third and final type of plea bargain is count bargaining. With count bargaining, the defense is offered a reduction in the amount of counts the defendant faces in exchange for a guilty plea. This is used when the defendant pleads guilty to a fewer number of charges. (Vogel, 2007, p. 40)

For most defendants, the principal benefit of the plea bargaining is receiving a lighter sentence for a less severe charge than might result from taking the case to trial and losing. Also, the outcome of any given trial is usually unpredictable, but a plea bargain provides both prosecution and defense with some control over the result. Defendants who are held in custody who either do not have the right to bail, or cannot afford bail, or who does not qualify for release on their own recognizance. May get out of jail immediately following the judge's acceptance of a plea. Depending on the offense the defendant may