Coerced Plea Bargian Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Coerced Plea Bargian - Research Paper Example The protection of the fundamental human right is regarded very useful because it non-discriminatory and puts all people equal before the law. It is like saying that if the president of the nation deserves to live, the laborer at the presidential palace also deserves the same amount of right to live. Born out of the protection of the fundamental human rights of all people is the plea bargain that is basically concerned with giving a guilty person some room to plead for mercy. But in what ways have this right being abused? The essence of this essay is review coerced plea bargain and take a stand on it. What is Plea Bargain? According to the Encyclopedia of Everyday Law (2009), plea bargain â€Å"usually involves the defendant's pleading guilty to a lesser offense or to only one or some of the counts of a multi-count indictment in return for a lighter sentence than that possible for the graver charge†. Alschuler gives a similar definition or the term as he states that plea bargain is a situation where by â€Å"prosecutors and trail judges offer defendants concessions in exchange for their plea.† The basic idea therefore lies in the fact that in plea bargains, defendants admit their charges without or with very minimal pressure from the jury and in exchange of their ‘frankness’, receive lesser or lighter sentences. ... s; a voluntary waiver; and a factual basis to support the charges to which the defendant is pleading guilty.† If plea bargains occur under these components, we say the plea bargain is valid. Forms of Negotiating Plea Bargain For a plea bargain to be possible, there are certain legal negotiations that must go on. Koduah (2001) mentions some of these negotiations as Charge Bargaining, Sentence Bargaining and Fact Bargaining. Explaining further, the Encyclopedia of Everyday Law (2009) states that in charge bargaining, â€Å"in return for a plea of "guilty" to a lesser charge, a prosecutor will dismiss the higher or other charge(s) or counts.† This means that the defendant gets a ‘reward’ of a squashed higher charge because of admitting guilt for a smaller offense. Further on, the encyclopedia writes that with sentence bargaining, there is an â€Å"agreement to a plea of guilty (for the stated charge rather than a reduced charge) in return for a lighter sentenc e.† In this case therefore, trial goes on for the prosecution whiles the defendant hopes for a lighter sentence. Finally, fact bargaining â€Å"involves an admission to certain facts "stipulating" to the truth and existence of provable facts, thereby eliminating the need for the prosecutor to have to prove them. As in the case of all plea bargain, the defendant is given something in return, which is that there is â€Å"an agreement not to introduce certain other facts into EVIDENCE† (Encyclopedia of Everyday Law, 2009). Under what condition does a Plea Bargain become Coerced? Risinger (2007) explains that under any circumstance where plea bargain is forced on a defendant constitutes coerced plea bargain. In some cases also, attorneys of defendants do not force their defendants into negotiating for plea bargain but