A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case in which a prosecutor and a defendant arrange to settle the case against the defendant. It is offered by the prosecutor as an incentive for the defendant to plead guilty. In return, the prosecutor drops some of the charges against the defendant, leading to a lesser sentence.
Plea bargains play a major role in reducing the case loads of the courts. If every case went the full distance, the legal machinery would virtually come to a standstill. Another reason plea bargains are favored is that it allows criminals to accept responsibility for their actions.in this way, the limited resources of the legal system are not wasted in further investigating the case.
In some situations, prosecutors may be certain of the guilt of the defendant, but might not have the convincing evidence needed to clinch the case. For example, if a key witness dies prior to the trial, the defendant would benefit. So the prosecutor offers a deal to the defendant to prevent a chance of him being acquitted. At the same time, the defendant avoids the possibility of being found guilty on all charges.
A plea bargain is a binding contract between the prosecutor and the defendant. To prevent the prosecutor from backing off later, the defendant must ensure that the deal is clearly stated on the record. However, the defendant has to fulfill any duties that are required of him as part of the deal. If he does not do so, the prosecutor can revoke the deal.
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