Plea bargaining, defined in Black’s Law Dictionary as a negotiated agreement between a prosecutor and a criminal defendant whereby the defendant pleads guilty or no contest … in exchange for some concession by the prosecutor” (2009, p. 1338). There are three common types of plea agreements, charge bargaining or pleading guilty to a lesser charge, count bargaining or pleading guilty to one or more charges in exchange for additional charges being dropped, and sentence bargaining or receiving leniency in sentencing (Neubauer & Fradella, 2012, pp. 309–311). According to USCourts.gov upwards of 90% of trials end via plea bargaining (“Criminal cases,” n.d.). There are multiple benefits for both the courts and the defendants when looking at plea
