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Recommended: Role of prosecutors
There are many actors in the criminal justice system such as prosecutors, judges, and defense lawyers. They present their case to a jury who will eventually decide if the defendant is found guilty or innocence. During trial the prosecutor and defense lawyer both present their case. All of this can be a lengthy process which also takes up time and cost money. In many cases prosecutors will offer a defendant a plea deals. A plea deal or plea bargaining is a negotiated guilty plea in exchange for a shorten sentence. Prosecutors contain majority of the control in relation to plea bargaining and must hold their end of the deal and deliver what has been promised to the defendant. Even though plea bargaining may sound great at the moment it comes along with many benefits and disadvantages. …show more content…
One of the major benefits for both parties is that the case is completed quickly and does not take up much time. The obvious benefit is for defendants who will receive less sentence compared to if the defendant would go to trial. Prosecutors get an easy conviction and public defenders get done with a case quickly which helps them with their giant caseloads. Some of the disadvantages aren't as clear. For example, when a defendant is offered a plea deal they have to plead guilty, some defendants will plead guilty even if they are innocent in order to avoid trial and the possibility of getting a greater sentence. Another thing to think about is why is the prosecution offering you a plea deal? Their case may not be a strong and they would have otherwise not gotten a conviction without the plea bargaining. It is important to remember if you accept a plea deal it will come out on your criminal
Plea bargains are one of the most controversial debates that are discussed over the criminal justice court system. A plea bargain is when a defendant agrees to plead guilty to a crime and in exchange for something, for example a lesser sentence. There are three types of plea bargains. Charge bargaining is when a defendant pleads guilty to a less serious charge than the original charge. Count bargaining is when the defendant pleads guilty for some of the charge, but not all. Sentence bargaining is when the defendants get a lesser sentence than the maximum penalty. Through the course of this semester it has been brought to our attention, multiple times, about the problems plea bargaining has caused. Many defendants are pressured by those who surround them in
Plea bargaining precludes justice from being achieved, where the consent to less severe sentences are given in favour of time and money. The case of R v Rogerson and McNamara, demonstrates the advantages of hiring highly trained legal personnel, which inevitably contributed to their lesser sentence. Thus, making it more difficult for offenders to be convicted.
Jurors will thoroughly inspect and weigh over the evidence provided, and process any and all possible scenarios through the elements of crime. If the evidence does not support the prosecutor 's argument and the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt, the jury must pronounce the defendant not guilty. If questionable or irrelevant evidence is included in the criminal proceeding, it is the duty of the prosecutor or defendant 's counsel to object and insist that the evidence be excluded by the presiding
Now that we have discussed the pretrial occurrences, we get into the trial portion of the court process. This is the portion of the process in which both the defense and the prosecution present their cases to the jury, the judge, and the rest of the courtroom. To select a jury, the bring in potential jurors and ask them questions,
Plea bargaining describes a deal between the prosecutor and the defense attorney, who represents the defendant, that they negotiate a deal for either a lesser conviction or a lesser se...
Plea bargaining is an agreement between the Crown and the defendant in a criminal case. The Crown gives the accused an opportunity to plead guilty to a lesser charge for a lighter sentence or; to the same charge with a lighter sentence than the maximum sentence the Crown would have sought in a trial setting. There are numerous reasons why an accused would accept a plea bargain and why the Crown would offer one. One of the
Texas houses the largest prison population in the nation (National News). I am not surprised by this statement. I agree with Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson’s statement, "Texas has always been a law and order state, and the prison system has been known as a tough system”. In my opinion, Texas has high crime statistics because of the high rate of re-offenders. According to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, “four of ten offenders released from prison will be reincarcerated after three years”. Offenders are leaving prison without being rehabilitated for the crime they committed.
A plea bargain is a discussion between defense counsel and prosecution in which the accused agrees to plead guilty in exchange for certain considerations, such as reduced charges or a lenient sentence (Siegel, 2017, p. 670). To understand why plea bargaining is used so often, you must look at the pros and cons. In deciding if a plea bargain is the best option, then the pros must outweigh the cons and must favor the interests of the state. Some of the pros that stood out were the overall reduction of cost of the criminal prosecution and resources and prosecution being devoted to more serious cases. If the prosecution can push a plea bargain, then they can move on to a more serious case and get more money for their time and services. Plea bargains allow dangerous offenders to receive lenient sentences. Jesse Timmendequas, a previously convicted sex offender, was given a 10-year plea-bargained sentence for child rape. Upon his release, he raped and killed 7-year-old Megan Kanka in one of the nation’s most notorious crimes (Siegel, 2017, p. 392). In other cases, innocent people might plead guilty if they believe that the system is biased and that they have
There are many advantages and disadvantages when it comes to the accused plea bargaining. Plea bargaining happens when the accused pleads guilty to a crime and in return the prosecution agrees on a lighter sentence or reduced charges (Siegel, Schmalleger, Worrall, 2011). In some cases the prosecution agrees to both. There are many advantages to an accused plea bargaining. Some advantages includes saving the courts money, time, and resources. There are also disadvantages to plea bargaining. Some disadvantages is that prosecutors may charged the accused with a higher charge, non-guilty defendants may plead guilty, and defense attorneys not getting paid may talk their client into plea bargaining. Criminal who chose to plea bargain also are able to move through the court process faster and resolve their case sooner.
The people directly involved with this case are Judge Lance Ito, the prosecution lawyers, Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden, the defense lawyers, Johnnie Cochran, Robert Shapiro and Robert Blasier , the jury and the defendant, O.J. Simpson. The families of the victims have also been present in the courtroom, as well as other spectators and news media. This case has heard one hundred and twenty witnesses over a nine month period.
A plea bargain can be defined as, “a negotiation between the defendant and his attorney on one side and the prosecutor on the other, in which the defendant agrees to plead “guilty” or “no contest” to some crimes, in return for reduction of the severity of the charges, dismissal of some of the charges, the prosecutor’s willingness to recommend a particular sentence or some other benefit to the defendant. Sometimes one element of the bargain is that the defendant reveal information such as location of stolen goods, names of others participating in the crime or admission of other crimes. The judge must agree to the result of the plea bargain before accepting the plea. If he does not, then the bargain is cancelled.”
Plea-bargaining constitutes one of the staples of the American Criminal Justice system. The practice entails an agreement between the prosecutor and the defendant in criminal cases where for the most part the defendant forgoes his trial by pleading guilty to his respective charges. By pleading guilty, the defendant receives a less severe charge compared to the original. The plea by the defendant saves an enormous amount of time for both parties since they do not allocate resources in order to prepare for trial. Similarly, the availability of money is also a factor of the plea-bargaining practice because instead the defendants can save a substantial amount of money the trial might cost.
For decades, we have been made to believe that criminals are people who have done harm to our society, violating the laws of the land, and don 't deserve a second chance. They should be locked away, and the keys should throw away. Unfortunately, today, our world is full of crimes and our system is getting overcrowded with criminals. However, with recent laws like the plea bargain proofs that there is hope and a way out to every situation. A plea bargain can be defined as negotiations during a criminal trial between the prosecutor and the defendant which result in a more lenient sentence than would have been recommended with the original charge (Farlex). Some would say that the use, or abuse, of the plea bargain, allows criminals
Plea bargaining is occasionally referred to as a form of “backdoor justice.” This is because plea bargains, which make up a vast majority of criminal proceedings, occur outside of the courtroom. They happen before or during a trial and often the reasons are unknown to anyone not directly involved in the case. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld plea bargaining as constitutional in Brady v. United States. This tactic can work to the advantage of criminal defendants and their attorneys, yet can also lead to certain abuses of the system on the part of the defense, each of which will be addressed in turn.
Next, comes prosecution of the defendant by the state attorney, then incitement, the filing of information by prosecution to decide whether to proceed to trial. Followed by arraignment, which is the plea of guilty or not guilty, pretrial detention, plea bargaining, trial, and sentencing (Process of Criminal Justice). For O. J. Simpson, this process started with the investigation of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. The same day the bodies were discovered, Simpson flew back from Chicago to Los Angeles. Upon his arrival, authorities took him into custody and began their questioning.