Plea bargains have been around for a long time. They most likely began as a result of over-crowded courts. Nothing has changed. Trials take up a great deal of time. Even just one trial. And with thousands of cases coming through just one court, its literally impossible to take every case to trial. The solution therefore, is for the defense and the prosecution to cut a deal. This is usually fine with everyone involved, except for the victim of course, who usually wants full punishment.
For the defendants, the primary benefit of a plea bargain is that they get a lighter sentence that might otherwise have gone to trial and ended up with a far more severe charge should they lose. For those who do not qualify for a public defender, they can often save money, as most private lawyers will charge more if they are convinced that a case will go to trial. The reverse is true for the prosecutor, solicitor here in South Carolina, in that some sort of a conviction is better than no conviction at all; assuming that the prosecutor would have lost the trial.
There are some other benefits:
Being release from jail.
Its amazing just how long some people sit in jails awaiting trial. This is especially true here in Myrtle Beach and Horry County, where our system is tremendously backed-up. To sit in jail in this area is not picnic, with over crowding in our county detention center as it is. That would be J. Reuben Long Detention Center. That jail has had three times the capacity it was built for incarcerated and has resulted in inmates sleeping on the floor. Being a prisoner incarcerated under those conditions wears a person out. Often they lose their will to fight and they accept a plea offer that they normally would not, just for the sake of getting out of jail. And there is only so much that an attorney can do to help a person get out of jail and/or go to trial. As far as getting out of jail, the lawyer is pretty much limited to getting the defendant a bond hearing and arguing for a low bond. That is about the extent of what the attorney can do to get someone released pending their trial. As far as getting the actual trial to begin, the defense attorney's hands are completely tied. Defense attorneys have no control or input into the docket or court management. And seeking a "speedy trial" is not what people think it is. The so-called constitutional right to a speedy trial should be an article in itself. In many respects, it doesn't exist. Unless there is some sort of an exigent circumstance such as a crucial witness on his/her death bed, about all a defense attorney can to for a speedy trial is to file a motion for one, and then sit. Our Supreme Court here in South Carolina has held in one case that eight years is not a violation of one's right to a speedy trial. These are decided on a case by case basis, but the point is, by and large the right to a speedy trial will not expedite the getting out of jail process.
Resolving the case quickly:
There is also the matter of family members who suffer as a result of that incarceration, and income not being made, and the list goes on and on. There is stress on everyone involved and not just the defendant.
Having less of a serious criminal record:
Pleading guilty in exchange for a reduction in the number of charges or having one particular charge reduced to a lesser charge, will result in less impact on the defendant's criminal record. This not only affects the person regarding job opportunities, but could also have a devastating affect in the event that person is convicted again in the future. And then there is always the possibility that with some crimes there can be a reduction to a lesser charge that could later be expunged, and thereby clearing the person's record altogether. Plus, many potential employers look at misdemeanors in an entirely different light than they do felonies, despite certain fallacies with that line of reasoning.
And there are other reasons:
Such the social stigma of being convicted of certain crimes. For example, a solicitor might take a rape case to trial, but be willing to reduce it in a plea negotiation to an assault and battery charge. Although having a criminal record for a assault and battery is not something that anyone would want on their record, it certainly would not be as hard to live with as a rape conviction. For various reasons, too many to explain here, there are defendants that have legitimate fears for going to prison in that they have fears of being harmed or even killed in prison. There are other reasons as well as these. And often defendants have more than just one of these reasons.
Judges and Prosecutors benefit as well: Again, for the most part, its usually just the victim that is really upset about the plea bargain process. But defendants are not the only ones that have an incentive to plead guilty. For the judge, the main incentive is to keep the cases moving, especially in those courts where the docket is over-loaded like it is here in Myrtle Beach and the rest of Horry County. That would include the other county in our circuit, Georgetown County. It also amounts to less work the judge would have to do. The average plea takes around 10 to 15 minutes. Trials on the other hand very seldom take less than at least a half of a day and for the most part, will eat up an entire day of everyone's time, including the judge. Most trials take longer than one day and depending on the particular case could take much, much more than just a day. And for the prosecutor, they always have more cases than they should. Their primary goal is to constantly move and resolve those cases. A prosecutor could possibly resolve 30 to 50 cases in one day through pleas. Compare that to the length of time for taking a case to trial, and there is no comparison.
Pleas are also far less of a strain on the entire system. Plea bargains save the government a tremendous amount of money. There are so many other people involved in the court system that this affects as to costs, such as law enforcement, clerks, staff, computers and office equipment, and so forth. The court system in this county was never designed nor built to accommodate the number of criminal cases. If every criminal in this country was to was to reject any sort of a plea and insist on their constitutional right to a jury trial, our system would shut down.
