The agreement that is made between the defendant and the prosecutor in a criminal case is called a plea bargain. In such a situation, the defendant may agree to plead guilty to an offense that is less severe than the original one. Most of the times, if there are multiple charges; the defendant may plead guilty to one charge so that the other charges are dismissed. All the parties involved in the case can avoid a lengthy trial if they agree to a plea bargain. Answered below are some of the popular questions about plea bargain that have been asked by different people: Under what circumstances will a prosecutor not offer a plea bargain and opt for an open plea? Most of the times the prosecutor may not offer a plea bargain if he/she is sure that he/she will win the case. Offering an open plea is the same as the person going to court and losing the case. The defender may not accept the open plea if he/she thinks that he/she has the slightest chance of winning the case. However, if there seems to be no chance, then the prosecutor can also request the court for a harsher punishment. A person was denied a plea bargain for a felony DWI by the county. He/she was asked to appear for the sentencing. Once the plea bargain was denied, the person wanted to withdraw it but the judge did not come to court due to an illness. The attorney who was appointed by the court took the person to another judge where he/she was given a sentence of 8 years. Can this person do anything in this situation considering he/she had ineffective counsel? The person may look for another lawyer who can review his/her case. The person may be able to appeal in court on grounds of ineffective counsel. He/she may state that his/her lawyer was not giving proper legal assistance. The person also had the right to withdraw his/her plea once it was rejected. Hence, he/she may hire another lawyer who can review the case and try to reduce his/her sentence. What are the pros and cons of plea bargaining? The main pro of plea bargaining is to get the sentence reduced without going to court for a trial. Such a plea will also help the defendant and the state to save a lot of time and money. In most cases, the defendant’s punishment will be reduced if he/she pleads guilty to the charges. In some cases, where there are more than one charges, the defendant may be able to dismiss one of the charges by taking a plea bargain and pleading guilty to one crime. The disadvantage of a plea bargain is that the person will give up his/her rights of asking the prosecution to prove his/her crime without reasonable doubt. Another disadvantage is that the case will remain on the person’s record. This can make it difficult for a person to get employment. A person who took a plea bargain for a criminal traffic charge was not read his/her waiver of giving up his/her rights. What action can the person take in such a scenario? In a situation like the one mentioned above, the person will have to first file a motion to vacate the plea with the court. This motion can be filed if a person was not read his/her rights or did not know what he/she was accepting when he/she signed the plea. The person will have to inform the court the kind of relief that he/she is expecting when he/she files for this motion. The person can also go to a court trial and defend himself/herself by saying that he/she did not know the outcome when he/she accepted the plea. However, if the person does not have a strong defense and does not want to go to court, then his/her case may get dismissed. A plea bargain may give a person a chance to plead guilty to one offense and remove the other offenses. This has both advantages and disadvantages. One should be aware of both the pros and cons before filing for a plea bargain. You may ask a lawyer if you have any questions about the plea bargain.
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