Plea Discounts, Time Pressures, and False-Guilty Pleas in Youth and Adults Who Pleaded Guilty to Felonies in New York City

Exploring the relationship between plea discounts and time pressures and highlighting the differences in adjudication of juveniles and adults charged in New York City, this study confirmed findings from previous anecdotal and empirical reports that defendants’ plea decisions may not be truly voluntary. Those conducting the study completed extensive structured interviews of 52 adolescents and 42 adults who had been mandated to community-based, alternative-to-incarceration programs. The sample was as representative as possible of the general population of offenders with respect to age, ethnicity, race, and sex. Each participant shared their original charge and associated penalty, the terms of their plea deal, the amount of time they had to make their decision, and the number of times they met with their attorney before entering the plea. Each also provided ratings of their attorney’s competence and the extent to which their guilty plea was a true reflection of their guilt. Plea discounts increased with decreased likelihood of conviction. Adolescents and adults reported similar levels of innocence. Most participants had less than a day or even an hour to make their decisions, suggesting potential undue pressures. Meetings between participants and attorneys were infrequent. The study’s findings raised concerns that participants’ bargaining processes may have been coercive.

“These data show that plea discounts tend to be steep in NYC, that decision times . . . can be extremely short, and that a significant number of defendants who plead guilty make claims of innocence. . . . [T]he present findings . . . bring into question the true voluntariness of plea decisions and speak to the need for a closer examination of the plea-bargaining process with respect to its potential to be coercive.” p. 257