Introduction
The term plea bargaining can be defined as the process whereby the accused—the defendant—and the prosecutor in a criminal case work out a mutually acceptable disposition of the case. That disposition is subject to court approval. However, the court is not involved in any negotiations leading to the agreement and, in the United States, is prohibited from such involvement.
Plea bargaining is a necessary element of the United States criminal justice system. Properly negotiated and structured, plea agreements in general benefit defendants, the government, and the judiciary. In addition, the public benefits from plea-bargaining because plea agreements result in the conservation of public resources as well as the quick disposition of criminal cases. Plea bargaining is also particularly useful to prosecutors of organized crime cases, as plea bargaining may lead to invaluable cooperation of defendants in the investigation and prosecution of other members of a criminal organization.
Both private defense counsel and public defenders look upon plea negotiation as a necessary part of the criminal justice system. Observers agree that the majority of felony convictions in the United States are the result of guilty pleas arising out of negotiations or bargains between the prosecution and defense. Statistics in criminal justice are always suspect, but most of those knowledgeable in the field of criminal justice estimate that as many as ninety percent of felony convictions are a result of plea bargains.
The plea of guilty is the most frequent method of conviction in all jurisdictions of the United States. Conviction without trial will and probably should continue to be the most frequent means for the disposition of criminal cases. This assumption is not based on notions of expediency but rather on the conclusion that a number of values are served by the disposition of many criminal cases without trial..................
