Define Plea Agreement
When entering into the agreement, the prosecutor is required to take into account the public interest, the severity of the sentence and the personal characteristics of the accused. (Article 210 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of Georgia) In order to avoid misuse of powers, the legislator provides for the written consent of the Public Prosecutor`s Office as a necessary condition for the conclusion of an agreement on the lodging of an appeal and for the amendment of its provisions. (Article 210 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of Georgia) Criminal trials include softer or alternative sentences promised in exchange for an accused`s admission of guilt. One of the most visible forms of criminal trial occurs when defendants plead guilty to murder in order to avoid the death penalty. Criminal proceedings also take place in less serious cases, such as.B. confess to an indictment in exchange for a “time served” sentence, which usually means that the accused is released immediately. An accused can plead guilty only if he actually committed the crime and admits it in open session before the judge. If the accused admits the crime, he agrees that he is guilty and accepts that he can be “convicted” by the presiding judge – the only person authorized to impose a sentence. Sometimes, under an agreement, the government agrees not to recommend a longer sentence (p.B. an additional prison sentence for certain reasons), but it is up to the judge to determine how the accused will be punished. The history of American plea bargaining is quite unclear, in part because in most places and jurisdictions, negotiations were considered inappropriate until the late 1960s. Some of the first pleadings took place in colonial times at the Salem Witch Trials in 1692, when accused witches were informed that they would live if they confessed, but were executed if they did not. The Salem judges wanted to promote confessions, and in order to discover more witches, they wanted confessed witches to testify against others.
The admission of guilt saved many witches accused of execution. Later, the Salem witch trials were used to illustrate one of the strongest arguments against plea bargaining: that the practice sometimes leads innocent defendants to plead guilty. A 2009 study by the European Association of Law and Economics found that innocent defendants are consistently more likely than guilty defendants to reject otherwise favorable pleas, even if this is theoretically detrimental because they are perceived as unfair, and would do so even if the expected punishment was worse if they came to court. The study concluded that “[t]he somewhat counterintuitive `cost of innocence`, where the preferences of innocent people collectively lead them to perform worse than their guilty counterparts, is further enhanced by the practice of imposing much harsher sentences in court on defendants who deny charges. This “trial sentence” is intended to facilitate guilty pleas for guilty defendants [. and ironically…] disproportionate, collective, punishes innocent people who, for reasons of fairness, reject certain offers that their guilty colleagues accept. [13] During the trials, the accused agreed to plead guilty to reduced charges (p.B grievous bodily harm instead of attempted murder). Plea agreement negotiations between the U.S. assistant attorney and the defendant`s attorney, according to the Fed. A prosecutor may want to maintain a high conviction rate or avoid losing high-profile trials, creating the opportunity to enter into a plea bargain that furthers their interests but reduces the potential for prosecution and trial to deter crimes. [17] Prosecutors may also make prosecution decisions that have a material impact on a defendant`s sentence, and they may lay charges or propose plea agreements that even cause an innocent defendant to consider or agree to a plea bargain.
Plea bargaining is extremely difficult in civil law jurisdictions. Indeed, civil law systems, unlike common law systems, have no notion of advocacy – if the defendant confesses; the confession is recorded as evidence, but the prosecution is not exempted from the requirement to present a complete record. A court may rule that an accused is innocent even if he has made a full confession. Unlike common law systems, prosecutors in civil law countries may have limited or no power to drop or reduce charges after a case is filed, and in some countries, their power to drop or reduce charges before a case is filed is limited, making plea bargaining impossible. Since the 1980s, many civil law countries have adapted their systems to allow for plea bargaining. [39] Plea bargaining has been defended as a voluntary exchange that puts both parties in a better position, as defendants have many procedural and substantive rights, including the right to judge and appeal a guilty verdict. By pleading guilty, the defendants waive these rights in exchange for a promise from the prosecutor, such as. B a reduced charge or a more favourable penalty.
[5] For a respondent who believes that a conviction is almost certain, a reduction in sentence is more useful than an unlikely chance of acquittal. [6] The prosecutor obtains a conviction, thus avoiding the need to devote time and resources to preparing for the trial and a possible trial. [7] Similarly, plea bargaining saves money and resources for the court before which the lawsuit is taking place. It also means that victims and witnesses do not have to testify in court, which can be traumatic in some cases. [5] Advocacy negotiations are not always easy to recognize. Negotiations that lead to formal agreements are called “explicit plea bargains.” However, some plea negotiations are called “implicit plea negotiations” because they do not include a leniency guarantee. Explicit bargains are the more important of the two. The predominant mission of the Public Prosecutor`s Office is. to ensure that justice is done. Proceedings must win the trust of the public and the judiciary.
Many defendants in serious and complex fraud cases are represented by lawyers who have experience in commercial litigation, including negotiations. This means that the defendant is usually protected from undue pressure to plead. The main danger to be protected in these cases is that the prosecutor will be persuaded to accept a plea or basis that is not in the public interest and in the interest of the judiciary because it does not adequately reflect the seriousness of the crime. Any agreement must reflect the gravity and magnitude of the offence and confer on the court the appropriate criminal powers. It must take into account the impact of an agreement on the victims and also on the general public, while respecting the rights of the accused. [11] Although typical before 1860, it was not until cases heard during the Civil War began to appear before the courts of appeal. These courts reacted with the same surprise that trial court judges had expressed when they were first confronted with plea bargaining, and they sometimes overturned convictions based on negotiations. The plea agreement without the consent of the court has no legal effect. The court must ensure that the agreement on the opposition is concluded on the basis of the free will of the defendant, that the defendant fully recognizes the essence of the agreement of action and its consequences. (Article 212 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of Georgia) The plea agreement is different from a non-prosecution agreement, which could sometimes be offered on a reciprocal basis for particularly valuable cooperation with law enforcement agencies. Although not fully accepted by appellate courts, plea negotiations began to emerge like mushrooms in the early 20th century.
One researcher pursued guilty pleas for New York County, New York, and found that between 77 percent and 83 percent of defendants pleaded guilty between 1900 and 1907. Two scientists discovered in the 1920s that plea bargaining had become a common practice in other jurisdictions. In Cook County, Illinois, for example, 96 percent of prosecutions in 1926 resulted in guilty pleas. According to the Ministry of Justice`s Bureau of Justice Assistance, “the overwhelming majority (90-95%) of cases lead to plea bargaining.” If the government has a strong case, the government can offer the accused a plea agreement to avoid a trial and perhaps reduce his exposure to a longer prison sentence. .