I don understand all this plea bargaining stuff, I just hear the politicians say it is a bad part of the justice system. What is that all about?
The criminal justice system in this county has several thousand cases a year which have to be resolved. In many cases, the DA will charge every conceivable crime under the facts, including alternative charges (for example; charging someone with the theft of an time, or, alternatively, that the defendant received or possessed stolen property). Plea bargaining allows these cases to resolve in a fashion that compromises the DA’s general desire to get the maximum from a case, and the defense’s desire for a dismissal in every case. Because of the facts of most matters, plea bargains are reached, to try to establish a fair plea to both sides, an, often more importantly, a fair sentence with which both sides can live. I have been very successful over the years in resolving those cases that should be resolved, nad trying those cases that should be tried.
