Criminal Plea Bargaining Incentives

When you are involved in a criminal proceeding as a defendant, there are a number of different reasons that you may want to enter into a plea bargain. A plea bargain will give you more control over the kind of sentence that you receive, within certain bounds. This can be an advantage if you are in fact guilty of the accused crime, and you can sometimes plea bargain for a lower sentence or less jail or prison time.

Benefit for the Criminal Courts

Criminal Courts and the system are very crowded, and judges and court prosecutors and District Attorney’s have a lot of pressure to move cases in the system. If a case is a lesser type of offense, or an offense that would take a lengthy court trial, there can be a lot of pressure on the court and the prosecution to try and strike a deal with the defense.

Plea Bargaining Advatages for the Defense

For the defense the principal advantage is less time in prison, and often lesser trial court fees if you are paying for your attorney. If you accept a plea arraignment then it is less time spent on your defense by your attorneys, and you will be out less money.

Sometimes if you are a defendant it can also benefit you if you have for example, children. If you are a defendant you can mitigate your sentence and receive a lesser sentence if you strike a deal, and thus you may be able to rejoin your family and your children sooner rather than serving a much longer sentence that you may receive by going to trial on your original charge.

Getting out of Jail- If you do not have bail, or are not granted bail, there are situations that you may qualify to get out of jail immediately if you accept a plea bargain. This may be due to the lesser charge, or you may be released awaiting sentencing, or have probation along with community service.

Gain the Goodwill of the Criminal Court

No matter your release date, you can often access the goodwill of the court and get a better deal with the prosecution if you agree to a plea bargain. Sometimes you can plead no contest or plead guilty for less charges or a lesser number of charges. This will look better at times on your long term record, and can benefit you in other ways.

Many people have reasons that they have to avoid a felony record, and sometimes a plea bargain will allow you to plead guilty to a serious misdemeanor, and still do substantial jail time. For example some types of professional licenses require that you do not have a felony record but will allow a misdemeanor record.

For the Judge, court and prosecutor the state of their calendar and their schedule are the biggest reason often they try to plea bargain offenses. When a court calendar is very crowded it means that staff and budgets are overworked, and the speed that a person can obtain a trial is slowed way down.

In some jurisdictions with limited staff and budgets, Judges do not have the time or the resources to try every single case that comes through the door. They feel that it does the public a service, as well as helping first time offenders and people that need a break, by offering them a plea bargain.