Plea Bargains
David S. Trevino
Westwood College
CRJS-121 M3 Corrections
George L. Hicks, MBA, Faculty
Thirtieth of March, Two thousand and fifteen

A plea bargain is an agreement between both the defense and prosecution in a criminal case. In the agreement, the defendant will plead guilty in the hopes of attaining a lenient sentence or sometimes even the dismissal of certain charges. The argument most would make in favor of allowing plea agreements would be that “pleading guilty instead of going to trial reduces uncertainty as to the outcome of a trial; in trying a case before a judge or before a jury of 12 people, the defendant cannot predict what ultimately will happen” (PBS, 2015). In addition to that, it saves us both in time and money. The downside to a plea bargain is that the defendant is giving up his right to evidence heard in the court of law. This sometimes forces a defendant to bargain even if he or she is innocent, out of fear of what might happen if or when evidence comes to court. I feel this is a very real and scary situation when it comes to our current court system, fear can sometimes make us as human beings jump to the conclusion that no matter what we will be found guilty, no matter if we are innocent or not. In the burglary cases of both Breen and Lane, I would have charged both men with burglary in the second degree. I would have definitely factored in both of these men’s previous records for burglary while making my decision in both of the cases. Although Mr. Breen had plead guilty in his previous case, unlike Mr. Lane who was found guilty over a short court trial, both men