Plea Decision-Making By Attorneys and Judges

Despite the dominance of plea bargaining in the criminal justice system, there is little research available as to what factors are actually considered by legal actors when making plea-related decisions. This study recreated a forty-year-old study by generating a hypothetical plea bargaining simulation played by defense attorneys, judges, and prosecutors. The simulation included a variation of evidentiary and non-evidentiary factors. The researchers sought to answer two questions: (1) what factors do legal actors consider regarding plea decisions, and is there a difference based on type of legal actor, and (2) do specific factors influence plea decisions by type of legal actor? The results indicated that defense attorneys and prosecutors considered evidentiary factors to the same extent (at nearly ceiling levels), whereas judges did not. Additionally, the type of legal actor did not influence the value of the plea, but it did influence the inclination to advise, offer, or accept a plea. The results yielded implications that legal actors typically reject the option of a trial, and evidentiary factors are a significant factor in both the existence and value of a guilty plea.

“[I]n contrast to judges, for the most part, defense attorneys and prosecutors considered evidentiary factors to the same degree. . . . [Also,] whereas legal actor role influenced the willingness to advise, offer, or accept a guilty plea, it did not influence the value of the plea.” p. 558