When you really break it down, being a snitch is a form of plea bargain. The informant exchanges information for a potentially lower sentence. Prosecutors have a lot to consider when trying to build a case, and accomplice testimony isn't always considered a good choice.
The Power to Coerce Pleas
Prosecutors hold all the power in plea bargaining because strict sentencing laws with mandatory minimums have stripped judges of nearly all decision-making power. It's no wonder that 95% of all convictions are the result of pleas.
The most serious concern with the plea-bargaining process relates to the possibility that an accused who is in fact innocent will be induced to plead guilty. While it is a requirement of law that an accused admit his guilt before a court accepts a plea, [18]other pressures may frustrate this principle.
The most common plea bargain is a charge bargain. Sentence bargaining is when the prosecution agrees to allow a defendant to plead to a lesser charge in return for dismissing more serious charges.
With this type of plea bargain, the defendant is offered an alternative or lighter sentence in exchange for their guilty plea. One example of this type of plea bargain is when a defendant pleads guilty to a murder charge in exchange for the death penalty being taken off the table at sentencing.
Plea bargaining is prevalent for practical reasons. Defendants can avoid the time and cost of defending themselves at trial, the risk of harsher punishment, and the publicity a trial could involve. The prosecution saves the time and expense of a lengthy trial. Both sides are spared the uncertainty of going to trial.
The U.S. Justice Department has developed four types of plea agreements that can be negotiated: charge agreements, recommendation agreements, specific sentence agreements, and fact-stipulation agreements.
Some People Just Want the Ordeal to End
The time that charges are filed until trial can take months to more than a year. In the meantime, the defendant is bearing a severe burden, both in terms of their emotions and their finances. They may view a plea bargain as a way to make the problem go away sooner.
First Plea Deal is Seldom the Best
As the case proceeds, the State will take a closer look at the evidence. The closer the case gets to a trial, the more likely the State will consider further options when proving the case beyond a reasonable doubt in front of a jury.
Plea bargaining has become common in the U.S. justice system because it saves the time and expense of a lengthy trial. With the amount of criminal cases the U.S. prosecutes at the state and federal level, without plea bargains, there simply would not be enough time for judges to oversee all of the cases.
PROSECUTORS OFTEN WILL BARGAIN AFTER CONVICTION TO AVOID A POSSIBLE UNFAVORABLE DECISION ON APPEAL. AFTER CONVICTION, A MOTION FOR A NEW TRIAL IS GRANTED, A GUILTY PLEA IS ACCEPTED, AND A FAVORABLE SENTENCE IS IMPOSED AT THE SECOND TRIAL.
Once the two sides reach an agreement, they will schedule a hearing at which they will present the proposed plea deal to the judge. The judge will decide whether to accept, modify, or reject the deal.
For these reasons and others, and despite its many critics, plea bargaining is very common. More than 90% of convictions come from negotiated pleas, which means less than 10% of criminal cases end up in trials.
Before pleading guilty, the accused will generally try to negotiate their sentence with the prosecution. This is because it is possible to negotiate a less severe sentence than what might be imposed after a trial. The prosecution generally agrees to negotiate to make sure that the accused is punished for their actions.
You can only be convicted of an offence in one of two ways: first, by pleading guilty; or second, by being found guilty following a trial. Pleading guilty to an offence means that you accept you have committed that offence. Once you plead guilty you are convicted of the offence.
However, speaking in the most general sense, if you go to trial and lose, the next step is the sentencing hearing. The sentencing hearing is when the judge will impose your sentence.
The traditional image of a criminal trial has become all but obsolete in the American legal system. The overwhelming majority of criminal convictions (over 90 percent) result from plea bargains.
A lesser charge, lighter sentence, and getting everything over with quickly are some of the benefits of negotiating a plea. For most defendants, the principal benefit to plea bargaining is receiving a lighter sentence for a less severe charge than might result from a conviction at trial.
In numerous cases the defendant may benefit from the plea bargaining process because he receives a lighter sentence for pleading guilty to a lesser offense. The defendant, his family, and the victim are spared the public trial and accompanying emotional trauma.
Judges also benefit from plea bargaining. The practice allows judges to preside over efficient trials, to minimize the risk of rulings being overturned on appeal, and to avoid the necessity of making rulings during trial.