What is a judges role in a plea bargain?
There are a variety of different forms of plea bargaining and there are versions in which the judge has a relatively passive role, and in which most of the pressures are brought by the prosecutor. This is typically called “charge bargaining.” (In charge bargaining, the prosecutor threatens to bring a large number of charges or to intensify the charges and recommend the high end of the sentencing range.) In other forms of plea bargaining, typically called “sentence bargaining,” the judge may have a larger role and can be the real driving force. The standards of judicial ethics vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and so judges are more involved in some places than in others. In many jurisdictions, the judge may bring everybody back into his office and sit them down and pressure them until the cases get worked out — particularly judges who want to get cases off their trial calendar. The judge always has the power to reject the plea offer negotiated between the prosecutor and the accus
