Plea Bargaining Advantages

Plea bargaining is an agreement made between the prosecution and the defense that allows the defendant to receive a lesser charge for their crimes if they plead guilty. The prosecution often offers the defendant a reduced sentence. Most of the time, “the defendant agrees to plead guilty in order to avoid a trial and a more severe sentence” (Rennison and Dodge 204). When the defendant agrees to a plea bargain they agree to give up some of their constitutional rights including, the right to a jury and the right to appeal their case. In the American legal system, plea bargaining is very popular and is used to resolve around 90% of criminal cases (Plea Bargains: In Depth). The Rennison and Dodge textbook stated, “In 2006, 94% of felony criminal offenders pleaded guilty and were sentenced by a judge” (Rennison and Dodge 204). There are many benefits that the use of plea bargaining brings to the …show more content…
With plea bargaining, the defendants pleads guilty and admits to the charges that they were accused of. This removes the uncertainty of a trial because there is no question about whether or not the defendant committed the crime. The defendant may receive a lesser sentence, however, they are still admitting to and being punished for the crimes they did commit. A defendant is likely to accept the plea bargain in order to avoid going to trial and having more evidence revealed that would result in them receiving harsher charges and sentencing. Plea bargaining would also benefit the prosecutor in this case because is their argument is weak or they are lacking evidence the defendant is still likely to be found guilty. With a jury trial, the defendant could be acquitted even if they were guilty if the prosecutors does not have enough evidence or witnesses. However, with the plea bargaining, the defendant can still plead and be found guilty, and be charged for their