To Plea Or Not To Plea

The term ‘plea bargain’ has a bad name, making people think of guilty people getting by on lesser charges or innocent people pleading guilty because their lawyer is too lazy or incompetent to take a case to trial. Those assumptions are certainly true in some cases, but plea bargaining, negotiating a settlement is no different than settling any other type of cases, both sides compromise to get a deal done. If you are charged with a crime, taking a plea bargain that keeps the consequences manageable as opposed to going to trial, where you face far worse consequences if you lose, may be a good idea. Take a good look at any plea bargain offered, taking into a account how strong your case is, and what the consequences of losing at trial would be. Remember, trials are unpredictable, there is no such thing as a ‘slam dunk’ for either side.