Guilty Plea Negotiation

Authors

Joseph N. Bongiovanni Jr.

Abstract

The vast majority of criminal prosecutions are concluded not by trial but by a guilty plea,' which is usually the result of an agreement negotiated by prosecution and defense counsel and approved by the trial judge. The range of plea arrangements is broad and perhaps impossible to catalogue. Among them are: 1. sentence recommendations, 2. acceptance of plea to lesser offense, 3. dismissal of some counts in an indictment2 and 4. agreements not to seek conviction of a higher degree of a crime in exchange for defendant's not seeking to reduce the degree. Negotiated pleas should be encouraged by full judicial recognition, which would make possible substantive and procedural safeguards either by rule of court or by legislation.

First Page

542

Recommended Citation

Joseph N. Bongiovanni Jr., Guilty Plea Negotiation, 7 Duq. L. Rev. 542 (1969).
Available at: https://dsc.duq.edu/dlr/vol7/iss4/3