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What are the three main types of plea bargains in U.S. criminal law?
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Plea bargaining
A scene of the trials in Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony, hand-colored engraving.
In U.S. criminal law, there are three primary types of plea bargains, all of which involve sentence reductions achieved through different methods:1
- Charge bargaining: The defendant agrees to plead guilty to reduced chargesāfor example, pleading to aggravated assault rather than attempted murder.1
- Sentence bargaining: The defendant receives assurances of a lighter or alternative sentence in exchange for a guilty plea. This is often used to avoid the death penalty or to secure a sentence of "time served" for immediate release.1
- Count bargaining: Used when a defendant faces multiple charges, they are allowed to plead guilty to fewer counts. The prosecutor drops one or more of the original charges in exchange for a plea on the remaining ones. Because this requires multiple charges, it is the least common form of bargaining.1
While these agreements are essential for the efficiency of the court system, it is a fundamental ethical principle that the justice system must ensure all guilty pleas are voluntary and that no defendant is coerced into waiving their right to a trial.12