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smartest_kobold t1_iy8c4t2 wrote

Reply to comment by Maldonian in Man charged in Brookline shooting released from jail days before incident by [deleted]

Most people plead. That means very little.

Getting a satisfactory plea is most of the prosecutors job and if they can't even do that, that speaks to the quality of the prosecution or the police work collecting evidence.

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Maldonian t1_iy8eq8z wrote

I might be misinformed, but I imagine that people only plead if they think it’s a good deal for them, like any other negotiation.

“If we go to trial and convict you, you’ll get 10 years. But if you plead guilty today, we’ll agree to give you 5 years.”

I can’t imagine anyone would plead guilty and accept the whole 10 years. That’s just not logical.

Good deal for the suspect. And the prosecutor gets to do less work. But not a good deal for society.

If there’s enough evidence for a conviction, maybe it’s about time we start getting convictions and some real sentences.

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smartest_kobold t1_iy8jv06 wrote

>I might be misinformed, but I imagine that people only plead if they think it’s a good deal for them, like any other negotiation.

>“If we go to trial and convict you, you’ll get 10 years. But if you plead guilty today, we’ll agree to give you 5 years.”

>I can’t imagine anyone would plead guilty and accept the whole 10 years. That’s just not logical.

>Good deal for the suspect. And the prosecutor gets to do less work. But not a good deal for society.

Yes, but also no. A trial is unpredictable. The defendant doesn't want a trial because there's a chance they'll get the max. The prosecutor doesn't want a trial because the defendant might walk. The lawyers on both sides are guessing at the probability of every outcome and bargaining. That's most of the job these days.

>If there’s enough evidence for a conviction, maybe it’s about time we start getting convictions and some real sentences.

That's the other sticky thing. The jury is not always making a clear factual determination. You're asking a group of twelve amateurs to come to a consensus about some big gray areas, e.g. intent.

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