Plea Bargain Research Paper

The three basic types of plea bargains can be summed up as: 1) Plead to a lesser offense. 2) plead guilty to receive lesser sentence. 3) plead guilty to one charge to have another dropped. If prosecutors decide to bargain, there are three main factors that play a role in whether or not to offer a bargain. The first is the seriousness of the crime. The more serious the crime, the less likely a bargain will be struck. The second factor taken into consideration before a plea bargain is offered, history. An offender’s past criminal history is taken into consideration when plea bargains are considered. The last consideration when plea bargains are being considered, strength of the prosecution’s case. If a case is weak, a plea bargain may be considered