As a prosecutor, would you ever go ahead with a plea bargain if the victim objected?
by 
Zachariah2011
ANSWERS: 8
-
Assuming you mean defendant (as opposed to victim), if they objected there would be nothing to go ahead with. A plea bargain is normally an offer to be charged with a lesser crime in trade for pleading guilty. The trade out is the reduced cost and effort by the state to take the case to trial in trade for reduced charge for the person charged. If the defendant refuses to plead guilty in that trade out then there is no deal with which to go ahead.
-
I think that would depend on the crime. I think you may be referring to the parents of Mr. Arbury protesting the plea bargain the feds entered into with their son's killers. In a case like that, probably not. However, justice is about the law and really not about the family of the victims. Sometimes, a plea will get the perp prison time they may not get if it goes to trial. That's one reason the pile so many charges onto an arrestee to start with. It gives them incentive to take a plea for reduced charges. Plea deals also free up the court calendar and don't cost the taxpayers the price of a trial.
-
Of course a victim is likely to object. Of course it would depend on the circumstances...which the prosecutor ought to explain in quite stark detail to the victim. IF, FOR EXAMPLE, a prosecutor (in their professional and unbiased opinion) estimated that the chances of winning the case was 1 in 10 (the culprit gets off scot-free 9 in 10), but a plea bargain would GUARANTEE a conviction record and several years in prison for the culprit, then in such a case the victim can see clearly how the prosecutor OUGHT to act for the safety of the public and for the punishment of the culprit.
-
I think there should be something called "Truth in Justice" where plea bargaining is never on the table. The facts of the case combined with the defendant's criminal history and other mitigating factors should be the decisive factor in whether to charge him and to what extent. People should know the difference between right and wrong, and they do make mistakes. But if they habitually make the same mistakes, then it becomes obvious that they have no desire to learn from their mistakes.
-
plea bargains allow crims to get lighter sentences ......not right!!!!
-
The defendant must accept the plea of guilty and accept the plea bargain. If the defendant doesn't want the plea, they must take their chances with a jury trial.
-
plea bargaining helps move the courts trials
-
They do the victim is forgotten about in most cases unless the victim is a richmans childen. Plea bargins allow murderers to plea to a lesser charge and recieve a much lessor sentance in lots of cases scumbags that should be locked up for life are back on the street in less than 5 years.
OC Joe 
Army Veteran 
avatar RELATED QUESTIONS
Copyright 2023, Wired Ivy, LLC