plea deals
Bargained criminal settlements
Plea deals are negotiated agreements in criminal cases where the defendant agrees to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge, in exchange for a reduced sentence or dropped charges.
Prosecutors use them to avoid lengthy trials; defendants use them to limit punishment.
Most criminal convictions result from plea deals rather than trials: Her lawyer negotiated a plea deal that kept her out of prison.
- sentencingImposing legal punishment
- bargainingNegotiating mutually acceptable terms
- trialJudicial examination of claims
- behind closed doorsIn private, unobserved
- prosecutionPursuing legal charges
confession · cooperating witness · agreement · coercion · duress · ruling · convictions · sentencing guidelines · defendant · testimony · legal immunity · criminal defense · judicial discretion · mitigating factors · constitutional right · burden of proof · mandatory sentencing · time served
- legal documentscontract, affidavit, deed, will, subpoena
- legal recordscourt orders, court decisions, court filings, court rolls, court reports
- prosecutionprosecutor, district attorney, DA, prosecution, public prosecutors
- prosecutor's officeprosecutor, DA, district attorney, assistant DA, deputy prosecutor
- Incarcerationcell blocks, prison conditions, prison guards, prison labor, prison reform
- EU crime lawEuropol, Schengen, police cooperation, harmonization, criminal procedure
plea dealsjury trials
Legal hearings with citizen panels
jury verdicts · bench trials · criminal trials · trial by jury · litigation
plea, deal, pleas, deals, dealing, dealt, dealer, dealers, dealings