When Process Affects Punishment: Differences in Sentences After Guilty Plea, Bench Trial, and Jury Trial in Five Guideline States

Process discounts are the differences in sentences imposed for the same offense, depending whether the conviction was by plea, bench trial, or jury trial. A study of archival sentencing data and informal interviews of prosecutors and defense attorneys examined process-discounting patterns in five states that employ judicial sentencing guidelines—Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Washington. The study examined the waiver of jury trial in favor of bench trial and the waiver of trial altogether in favor of a guilty plea. The researchers hypothesized that guilty-plea convictions would generate the lowest sentences while jury-trial convictions would generate the highest; judges and prosecutors would provide such sentencing discounts in exchange for defendants’ choice to waive jury trial as a reward for promoting efficiency. While data revealed a significant difference between the average sentences given after guilty verdicts and guilty pleas, a defendant’s waiver of jury trial for bench trial did not produce consistent punishment consequences. Though they fell between plea and jury-trial sentences for many offenses, bench-trial sentences were the most severe for some offenses in three of the states. Patterns across bench-trial sentences were inconsistent, but such discrepancies are likely due to variations in the type of crime prosecuted and the particular sentencing guidelines in each state. Judges maintain significant discretion and consequently pose an obstacle to the standardization of process discounts.

“[W]hile the prediction that the average sentence after jury trial is more severe than the average sentence after guilty plea finds consistent support of selected offenses in these five states, the prediction that bench trial sentences would fall between guilty plea and jury trial sentences does not. In only some states do we see a consistent pattern of bench trial sentences greater than plea sentences but less than jury trial sentences.” p. 975