Okla-homey
2/7/2008, 07:44 AM
February 7, 1881: Plea bargaining gains favor in American courts
127 years ago today, Albert McKenzie started a trend that continues to this day when he plead guilty to a misdemeanor count of embezzlement in Alameda County, California.
McKenzie had originally been charged with a felony for stealing $52.50 from the sewing-machine company for which he worked. However, rather than go through a trial, the prosecution and defendant agreed to a plea bargain, a practice that became increasingly common in American courts.
The right to a trial by jury was considered a central part of the justice system in the early days of the United States. The Seventh Amendment of the Bill of Rights codified it as an essential part of Americans' civil liberties.
Under the Constitution, when a suspect is caught and charged with a crime, the government has to take the time and trouble to empanel a jury, put on a trial and seek a verdict.
But in the 1800s, a trend toward plea bargaining began. In Alameda County, from 1880 to 1910, nearly 10 percent of all defendants changed their "not guilty" pleas to "guilty of lesser charges" or pled guilty to reduced charges. In this way, the defendant exchanged the uncertainty of a trial for a "sure thing" by making a deal with the gubmint by copping to a lesser crime.
The benefit to the state is of course the fact it avoids the time and expense of a costly trial, and also exchanges the uncertainty inherent in any jury deliberation for a "sure thing" that guarentees a conviction (albiet to a lesser charge).
Bottomline is, whether they actually "did it" or not, it's advantageous to virtually all criminal defendants to make a plea deal
Today, the plea bargain is an essential part of the criminal justice system. The great majority of charges, over 90 percent in many jurisdictions, are resolved through some type of plea bargain.
The practice of plea bargaining has many critics. One big criticism goes like this: The mark of a good legal system is that it minimizes the effect of tactical choices on its outcomes. What sentence a guy gets should depend on what he did, or maybe on who he is, but not on whether or not he's exercised a tactical decision to exercise a right or not to exercise a right. Say you have two people who've committed the same crime. They have the same background, and one is going to get twice as severe a sentence as the other because he's exercised the right to trial. It's a perfectly designed system to produce conviction of the innocent.
People you've heard of who took plea deals...
http://aycu38.webshots.com/image/44517/2002155196552646741_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002155196552646741)
Mel
http://aycu24.webshots.com/image/43983/2002183999745534731_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002183999745534731)
Michael
http://aycu27.webshots.com/image/41986/2002149117318302379_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002149117318302379)
El Rushbo
http://aycu14.webshots.com/image/41413/2002146007033415434_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002146007033415434)
Deb (too pretty for prison)
http://aycu21.webshots.com/image/42860/2002112668036834479_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002112668036834479)
Martha
http://aycu24.webshots.com/image/42783/2006048548589602858_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006048548589602858)
Lindsey
http://aycu35.webshots.com/image/44954/2006075026010748040_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006075026010748040)
Kieffer
http://aycu22.webshots.com/image/43421/2006058104987836411_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006058104987836411)
Duke
http://aycu09.webshots.com/image/43328/2002128669052275026_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002128669052275026)
127 years ago today, Albert McKenzie started a trend that continues to this day when he plead guilty to a misdemeanor count of embezzlement in Alameda County, California.
McKenzie had originally been charged with a felony for stealing $52.50 from the sewing-machine company for which he worked. However, rather than go through a trial, the prosecution and defendant agreed to a plea bargain, a practice that became increasingly common in American courts.
The right to a trial by jury was considered a central part of the justice system in the early days of the United States. The Seventh Amendment of the Bill of Rights codified it as an essential part of Americans' civil liberties.
Under the Constitution, when a suspect is caught and charged with a crime, the government has to take the time and trouble to empanel a jury, put on a trial and seek a verdict.
But in the 1800s, a trend toward plea bargaining began. In Alameda County, from 1880 to 1910, nearly 10 percent of all defendants changed their "not guilty" pleas to "guilty of lesser charges" or pled guilty to reduced charges. In this way, the defendant exchanged the uncertainty of a trial for a "sure thing" by making a deal with the gubmint by copping to a lesser crime.
The benefit to the state is of course the fact it avoids the time and expense of a costly trial, and also exchanges the uncertainty inherent in any jury deliberation for a "sure thing" that guarentees a conviction (albiet to a lesser charge).
Bottomline is, whether they actually "did it" or not, it's advantageous to virtually all criminal defendants to make a plea deal
Today, the plea bargain is an essential part of the criminal justice system. The great majority of charges, over 90 percent in many jurisdictions, are resolved through some type of plea bargain.
The practice of plea bargaining has many critics. One big criticism goes like this: The mark of a good legal system is that it minimizes the effect of tactical choices on its outcomes. What sentence a guy gets should depend on what he did, or maybe on who he is, but not on whether or not he's exercised a tactical decision to exercise a right or not to exercise a right. Say you have two people who've committed the same crime. They have the same background, and one is going to get twice as severe a sentence as the other because he's exercised the right to trial. It's a perfectly designed system to produce conviction of the innocent.
People you've heard of who took plea deals...
http://aycu38.webshots.com/image/44517/2002155196552646741_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002155196552646741)
Mel
http://aycu24.webshots.com/image/43983/2002183999745534731_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002183999745534731)
Michael
http://aycu27.webshots.com/image/41986/2002149117318302379_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002149117318302379)
El Rushbo
http://aycu14.webshots.com/image/41413/2002146007033415434_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002146007033415434)
Deb (too pretty for prison)
http://aycu21.webshots.com/image/42860/2002112668036834479_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002112668036834479)
Martha
http://aycu24.webshots.com/image/42783/2006048548589602858_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006048548589602858)
Lindsey
http://aycu35.webshots.com/image/44954/2006075026010748040_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006075026010748040)
Kieffer
http://aycu22.webshots.com/image/43421/2006058104987836411_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006058104987836411)
Duke
http://aycu09.webshots.com/image/43328/2002128669052275026_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002128669052275026)