法律英语：90 Plea Bargains（在线收听）

by Michael W. Flynn
First, a disclaimer: Although I am an attorney, the legal information in this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for seeking personalized legal advice from an attorney licensed to practice in your jurisdiction. Further, I do not intend to create an attorney-client relationship with any listener.

Today I discuss plea bargains. James from Minnesota wrote:

I read in an article about a person who was found guilty of first-degree manslaughter. The body was never found, but there was still sufficient evidence to convict him. As part of a deal with the DA, after the case was over but before sentencing, this person agreed to lead authorities to the body in exchange for a second-degree conviction.

I do not understand. If the jury already found him guilty of first-degree, how can he make a deal to be convicted only of second-degree? Doesn't this override the jury?
How does "making deals for lesser sentences" work?

The short answer is that plea bargains are like settlement agreements between the accused and the prosecutor, subject to approval by the court. The timing of plea bargains depends on the state.

Depending on whom you ask, 90 to 95% of all criminal cases end in plea bargains. A plea bargain is a bit like a settlement in a civil case. It is an agreement between the state and the defendant, which, unlike many civil settlements, must be approved by the court. Generally, plea bargaining consists of the prosecutor making concessions in exchange for the defendant's concession to plead guilty or no contest. The state benefits because it can punish wrongdoing without going to the expense of trial, and the accused is given the benefit of serving less time than he might otherwise after a trial, and avoids the embarrassment of a public trial. Most plea bargains include the defendant waiving his right to appeal.

Plea bargains can happen at many stages of the criminal justice process. A “charge bargain” occurs when a prosecutor allows a defendant to plead guilty to a lesser charge, or to only some of the charges filed against him. For example, a defendant charged with drunk driving and driving without a license may be offered the opportunity to plead guilty to just the drunk driving charge. This is the most common form of plea bargaining, and courts look favorably on them, especially when the accused has a pretty clean record. Prosecutors will often offer a charge bargain to a low-level crony in a criminal plot in exchange for the crony’s testimony against others involved in the plot.

A “sentence bargain” occurs when a defendant is told in advance what his sentence will be if he pleads guilty. This can help a prosecutor obtain a conviction if, for example, a defendant is facing serious charges and is afraid of being hit with a long or seemingly harsh sentence. Sentence bargaining is used in some cases involving high profile or newsworthy cases. The prosecutor wants to look tough, accepting a guilty plea for a serious crime, but the defendant gets to spend less time in jail. For example, in a tax case, the defendant might plead to a more serious form of tax evasion, but will serve a shorter sentence than he might have faced had he been convicted by a jury of a lesser tax crime. This can happen because crimes generally carry a range of acceptable punishments that overlap.

In the case referenced above, Hans Reiser was convicted of first-degree manslaughter by a jury for killing his wife, but the body was never found. Before sentencing, he apparently offered to the prosecutor to show the location of the body in order to get the crime reduced to second-degree murder. Effectively, the Alameda County District Attorney found it valuable to find the body, and so struck a deal. The family of the wife wanted to find the body and properly bury it, choosing her final resting place. The family encouraged the DA to allow the husband to plead to the lesser charge in exchange for this information.

To answer the question of whether this plea overrode the jury, the answer is yes, it does. All plea deals basically take the authority away from a jury to decide the fate of the accused. Several legal commentators have decried this practice because it effectively takes power away from the judicial branch to deal with criminal cases, and places the power in the hands of the executive branch – the DA. Other scholars, and the Supreme Court since about 1971, have actively lauded plea bargains as an efficient means to decrease the burdens on the criminal justice system and to give to defendants the opportunity to take their own fate into their hands. Also, almost all plea deals must be approved by a judge, and so grossly disproportionate deals are rejected. Last, some states do not allow for plea bargaining after a verdict is rendered.

Plea deals, once entered voluntarily by the defendant in open court, are enforceable as contracts, with some added protections. The DA must abide by their deal, and the defendant cannot usually get out of a plea bargain once it is made. Also, many states limit sentence bargaining, and some states limit the time when pleas can be made.

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