Local Law Firms Home > Criminal Defense Attorney Overview > Plea Bargain A plea bargain is a deal presented by a prosecutor as a way to entice a defendant to plead guilty in a case. The point of a plea bargain is to wrap up a case as quickly as possible so that every criminal case does not wind up going to trial. Plea bargaining gives the prosecutor a chance to get guilty pleas in criminal cases that might otherwise go to trial.
There are two types of plea bargains—a sentence bargain and a charge bargain. A charge bargain offers an accused individual to plead guilty, but only for a charge that is less than the less severe than the one they are up against. A variety of factors will be dependent on whether this is a good route for a defendant to take—by accepting a charge bargain, they are admitting fault to something no matter what and therefore, there will be a punishment when it may have been possible to avoid charges all together. On the other hand, it may be the best way to go if it looks like the defendant may be found guilty of the more severe charge.
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