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Posts: 7860 | Location: Georgetown, Texas | Registered: January 25, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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A ridiculous article that confuses mandatory minimums with the inherent risk/reward that is built into the plea bargaining system.

You know they conveniently left out the fact that the defendant could plea open to the judge or jury.
 
Posts: 36 | Registered: September 03, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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No such thing as a trial penalty. There is a discount for pleading guilty, however. To me, that is a BIG difference.
 
Posts: 2137 | Location: McKinney, Texas, USA | Registered: February 15, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Yes, the article stands the notion of a plea bargain on its head.

A plea bargain is a better deal for the defendant, punishment-wise. The state benefits from a certain verdict and avoidance of the expense of a trial. So, the reality is that the majority of defendants get a punishment far less than they deserve if the law were enforced as written. It takes a twisted reporting mind to turn that into an excessive punishment on those defendants who choose a trial.
 
Posts: 7860 | Location: Georgetown, Texas | Registered: January 25, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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From the article:
quote:
The overloaded court system has also seen comparatively little expansion in many places, making a huge increase in plea bargains a cheap and easy way to handle a near-tripling in felony cases over the past generation.


I have always thought the biggest impediment to a jury trial was the lack of opportunity--there are too few courtrooms, judges, and lawyers to actually hold the trials in a timely fashion.
 
Posts: 2424 | Location: TDCAA | Registered: March 08, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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