There is a thought that only the guilty would
admit their guilt and enter into plea agreements. Because why would an innocent
person accept the guilty verdict of a crime they in fact did not commit? That
theory, however, simply is not true. The plea bargaining process is driven by
prosecutorial dominance and is overly coercive to induce guilty pleas. The
problem is that our criminal judicial system is plea oriented; dominance that
begins with the state office’s prosecutor and extends as
high as to the judge. The plea bargaining process presents an attractive out
for the state in that it is efficient and requires less of an allocation of
resources. However, that same out is not as defense friendly. The
scenario can be as simple as “plead guilty and take 15 years
in prison or take your chances at trial and get life.”
This is a decision that could rest on the shoulders of a guilty
defendant, who arguably may deserve the sentence. However, it could also rest
on the shoulders of an innocent defendant who would be forfeiting many
constitutional rights in order to avoid the huge risk of a jury trial.
