Essay On Plea Bargain

Admit to being guilty and there is no court required. When the defendant pleads guilty, the prosecutor can offer them: a lowered sentence, fewer charges, reduce the severity of the charges, etc. In order for the plea to be valid the defendant has to plea guilty in open court before a judge. “About 95 percent of all criminal convictions are the result of guilty pleas rather than trials, so prosecutors offer bargains in nearly every case”("Plea Bargain"). A plea bargain is a simple process, and there are many different reasons for people to take it. The prosecutor often offers the defendant a plea bargain, from that point, Judge Peter Messitte makes that the defendant has three options; “A defendant may plead ‘not guilty,’ ‘guilty,’ or ‘Nolo contendere’”(“Plea Bargaining in Various Criminal Justice Systems”). A defendant pleads not guilty when they didn’t commit the crime, guilty when they did commit the crime, and Nolo contendere when they don’t wish to say whether they did or did not commit the crime. The easiest, and hardest, part of a plea bargain is deciding how to plea. Deciding when to plead guilty, not guilty, or …show more content…
defendants agree to plead guilty to some or all of the charges against them in exchange for concessions from the prosecutor's”("Plea Bargain"). When a defendant pleads guilty, they get privileges that they would not get otherwise. Sometimes the defendant is asked to do more for the prosecutor than just plead guilty. Cornell University of Law says,“Some plea bargains require defendants to do more than simply plead guilty. For example, prosecutors often offer favorable plea bargains to defendants who agree to testify for the state in cases against other defendants.” Some plea bargains require the defendant to do more than just admit to being guilty; The defendant may be asked to help the prosecutor, or state, in another