Also, the phrase "subject to court approval" suggests some sort of judicial review of the plea bargaining agreement prior to.
acceptance by the judge. However, the true nature of plea bargaining includes situations where judicial review is nonexistent.
Implicit plea bargaining, by definition, is never officially subject to court approval. Implicit plea bargaining involves situations where.
defendants do not negotiate for certain concessions but instead are presented with the fact that if they go to trial they will be.
punished more severely.[14] Despite the lack of formal agreement for this bargain, this type of plea bargaining is often made quite.
explicit to the defendant but not subject to court approval. Additionally, prosecutors can independently drop charges against the.
defendant in exchange for a guilty plea. Moreover, judges seldom reject plea bargaining agreements involving sentencing.
recommendations by the prosecutor.[15] Therefore, the phrase "subject to court approval" obscures the reality of plea bargaining.
and inappropriately limits the definition of plea bargaining.
Finally, the suggestion that plea bargaining "usually involves the defendant's pleading guilty to a lesser offense in return for a.
lighter sentence" also distorts the reality of plea bargaining by ignoring the vast array of concessions that may be offered to a.
defendant in exchange for his guilty plea. The variety of concessions the state offers defendants extends to the limits of the.
prosecutor's or judge's imagination. These concessions generally can be divided into two categories: charge bargaining.
concessions and sentence bargaining concessions.[16] Charge bargaining involves offering a reduction of the charges or the.
dismissal of one or more of the charges in exchange for the guilty plea. Sentence bargaining, on the other hand, includes a wide.
range of offers that extends beyond merely an offer for a lighter sentence in return for a guilty plea.
