How judges accept or reject plea deals?

Criminal defense lawyers employ a number of defense strategies to protect their clients and prove their innocence, but sometimes the evidence against the suspect is simply undeniable. Just ask OJ Simpson about that.

In such cases, your counselor may choose to enter a plea deal with the prosecution where they come to a mutually beneficial agreement. In a plea deal, the agreement is that the defendant or the suspect will plead guilty not to the original charges pressed but to a lesser charge that entail consequences that aren’t as severe.

However, it isn’t just enough for the prosecution and the defendants to come to an agreement in terms of a plea deal. Any agreement also requires the approval of a judge. Today we shall look at what factors a judge considers when deciding whether to accept or reject a plea deal.

Presenting the plea deal to the Judge

To begin with, when the defendant and his/her legal counsel and the prosecutors come to an agreement, they need to approach the judge in charge of the case and present the agreement so that he or she can go over the details and assess the plea deal in a general sense.

For instance, let us say Mr. X (a defendant in a case) and his legal counsel has reached an agreement with the prosecution that Mr. X will plead guilty to a lesser charge and in exchange will provide testimony against another defendant in the case. Then this specification of the deal must be clearly presented to the judge. There needs to be a reason for the judge to approve a plea deal, according to criminal defense lawyers.

Things the judge considers in a plea deal before accepting it

The sole discretion of whether to accept or reject a plea deal lies with the judge. However, there are some general guidelines and standards used as reference to assist in the judge’s decision. Some of the things that matter the most when it comes to a plea deal are as follows:

1. The facts of the case (original charges, evidence present, defendants initial attempt\argument, severity of the crime, etc)
2. The victim’s interest (a judge may pass a plea deal without the due permission of a victim in the case. However, the judge will obviously be compassionate to the victim and take into consideration their sentiments prior to passing a plea deal).
3. The interest of the general public (if the defendant/suspect is deemed as dangerous and a threat to public safety then it is unlikely that the judge will pass a plea deal, especially if it means that the defendant will not be sentenced to any prison time)

In the opinion of criminal defense attorneys, judges also have the power vested in them to accept only some terms or specification of a plea bargain, be it a DUI plea bargain or any other case, and reject the rest or suggest other terms as they may seem fit.

If you find yourself facing criminal charges and want more information on how to enter a plea bargain effectively make sure to consult contact a criminal defense lawyer as soon as possible.

http://criminal-defense.usattorneys.com/ - this is the site that you want to become familiar with after you are charged with a crime. They say in prison you get one phone call, if you do not have access to the Internet which you probably do not and if you are not going to be released on bail or anything like that, you should make a phone call to someone you trust who can get on this site to find you that legal help that you need. 

Perhaps in the future we will allow someone to get online for ten minutes which can be more valuable than that one phone call but this is the world we live in now. You may only have to use this site once but that is fine since this site is a highly valuable commodity in your life currently.