plea agreement
Negotiated criminal resolution
A plea agreement is a negotiated deal between a prosecutor and defendant in which the defendant agrees to plead guilty, usually in exchange for reduced charges, a lighter sentence, or dismissal of other counts.
Most criminal cases in the United States are resolved through plea agreements rather than trials: She accepted a plea agreement to avoid the risk of a longer sentence.
- prosecutorGovernment's trial lawyer
- bargainFavorable purchase price
- dealAgreement or distribution
- allocutionFormal speech, especially pre-sentencing
- open courtJudicial proceedings accessible publicly
coercion · defendant · criminal record · leverage · offer · judge · sentencing guidelines · charge · affidavit · justice · settlement · judicial discretion · defense attorney · criminal case · felony · guilty · subpoena · sentence
- criminal justicearrest, jail, court, prison, crime
- court recordscourt documents, court transcripts, court records, court cases, court record
- dispute resolutionmediation, mediating, arbitration, negotiating, conciliation
- legal documentscontract, affidavit, deed, will, subpoena
- police recordspolice records, arrest report, police reports, incident report, arrest records
- prosecutionprosecutor, district attorney, DA, prosecution, public prosecutors
plea agreementjury trial
Legal proceeding with citizen panel
trial by jury · trial · bench trial · criminal trial · jury verdict