Plea deals are an essential part of our criminal justice system. Without them, our overloaded criminal courts would grind to a halt. Because plea deals circumvent the trial process, great care must be taken to avoid violating a defendant’s Constitutional rights. 

In the ideal situation, both sides give up something for a better deal. A prosecutor gives up a full trial in exchange for a suitable punishment  without spending valuable resources. The defendant gives up their day in court in exchange for limiting the maximum punishment for an underlying offense. And that’s the way it generally goes… until an innocent person gets involved.

So what would cause an innocent person to plead guilty? It happens, and it’s well-documented. Innocence attorneys believe there are many factors that can cause this. Founder of the California Innocence Project, Justice Brooks, believes the “War on Drugs” raised the stakes for all defendants (innocent or not). Prior to that heightened enforcement, the longest sentence doled out for a drug offense was about a year. Fast forward to modern times, and it’s not uncommon for someone to be in prison for life under a “three strikes” policy.

Another factor that scares people into prison under a plea deal is overcharging. Prosecutors, as a regular course, will bring as many charges as they reasonably can at the beginning of a prosecution. They do that to preserve their case for trial. Over time, as the evidence comes in, some charges will be dropped while others will remain. An innocent person who is unfamiliar with the criminal justice system can be terrified by the long initial list. If that person also has an unskilled attorney, they can be easily coerced into taking a bad plea deal out of fear. 

To hear a full discussion about the pros and cons of plea deals, tune in to our episode linked above. Host Michael Semanchik sits down with special guests Justin Brooks, founder of the California Innocence Project, and former Los Angeles County Prosecutor Wayne Little.

Special thanks to our sponsor Clio – Cloud-Based Legal Technology.

Written by:

Laurence Colletti