Plea Bargaining: Distinguish Between Charge Bargaining and Sentence Bargaining

Plea Bargains
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Define plea bargaining
Plea bargaining is a common process in the criminal cases which involves the defendant and prosecutor. Ideally, the process involves the defendant agreeing to plead guilty to some of the counts on charges that have been leveled against them. In return, the prosecutor agrees to some concession which reduces the charges that the defendant is facing. In most of the cases, the charge that the defendant is supposed to plead guilty for, is lesser that the one that they could stand trial for. It helps the defendant to face the charges on a lesser/lenient scale such as have the rest of the charges dropped and one upheld (Americanbar.org, 2016). It also means that the parties involved reduce the length in time that they spend on trial. As such, it is an approach that is associated with efficiency and speedy court proceedings.
Distinguish between charge bargaining and sentence bargaining
There are several types of plea bargains and among them are the charge bargain and the sentence bargain, each with a different meaning and application in the courts of law. The charge bargaining is one of the most common of pleas. It is a plea that involves the prosecutor and the defendant. In this case, there are negotiations between the defendant and the prosecutor, where the latter tries to get the former to agree to take up a plea bargain that involves a lesser crime. The defendant, in this case there will be several counts or crimes, from which the prosecutor will chose the least of the counts and get the defendant to plead guilty to (Findlaw, 2016).In an example a prosecutor may get the defendant plead guilty for man slaughter and dismiss the charges for first degree murder. On the other hand there is the case of sentence bargaining which is rather different from the charge bargaining. In this case, the prosecutor works to get the defendant to plead guilty to the stated charges. It is important to note that unlike the charge bargaining, in this case there is not a reduced charge. Ideally, the defendant agrees to plead guilty for the stated charges and in turn they are given a lighter sentence. It helps the prosecution to reduce the amount of time and resources that could be involved in trial proving the case. It also offers the defendant a chance to get a lighter sentence (Findlaw, 2016).
Compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of plea bargaining
Plea bargaining tends to impact the court and the justice system in number of ways, both positively and negatively. In light of the advantages that can be accrued from ...