Not every criminal arrest case goes to trial. As a matter of fact, most don't. With spending budget cuts at all levels of the justice system and significantly-packed prisons, prosecutors can accelerate the system by negotiating with those who've been charged with a crime. Instead of committing all the time and money involved with an entire trial, prosecutors will instead offer to alter, dismiss, or minimize charges in exchange for a specific plea.

As an example, many offenses come in various degrees of severity. If the prosecutor thinks the case ought to be settled without a full trial, they might speak to the defendant in the hopes of offering a deal to work out. The prosecutor could offer to lessen the severity of the charges in exchange for a plea of guilty or no contest. For the individual facing charges, this will mean a considerably better sentence than if they declined the plea bargain offer.

What Is Normally Negotiated?

Plea bargaining typically entails three different instances of negotiation - charge bargaining, sentence bargaining, and fact bargaining. The charge bargaining is normally the more widely-practiced of the three. Regularly, it will involve a deal to dismiss more severe charges in exchange for a specific plea to reduced charges. As an example, a defendant might plead guilty or no contest to assault as a swap for the prosecutor dropping charges of attempted murder.

Sentence bargaining is not as common, but quite comparable to charge bargaining. In combination with or instead of decreasing the charges or the offenses the defendant is accused of, the defendant is assured a lesser sentence in exchange for a guilty plea. This permits the judge to move on with no trial, while the defendant stands to gain from a lighter sentence. Unlike charge bargaining, however, sentence bargaining requires a guilty plea; if the defendant were truly not guilty, there is no sentence.

Fact bargaining is the least common of the three. Instead of working with the proper aspects of the case, like the specifics of the criminal charges or the particulars of the criminal sentence, this kind of bargaining works with the facts around the case. For instance, the accused might admit to certain information being true, in exchange for other evidence being dismissed from the case. In situations when this is beneficial, it could be a crucial bargaining tool.

How a Defense Lawyer Assists You

Plea bargaining isn't a one-way street. If the prosecutor's offer is below what the defendant had hoped for, a Seattle criminal attorney can potentially bargain right back. For this reason, a professional Seattle criminal defense attorney is so important. Without an experienced Seattle criminal defense lawyer present, you might leave the court with more serious charges than you deserve, even after a plea bargain.