RT Article
T1 Is a plea really a bargain?: an analysis of plea and trial dispositions in New York City
JF Crime & delinquency
VO 64
IS 7
SP 856
OP 887
A1 Kutateladze, Besiki 1976-
A2 Lawson, Victoria Z.
LA English
YR 2018
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1578216451
AB The study challenges the common notion that plea bargaining is necessarily beneficial to defendants. It examines the factors influencing the likelihood of taking a misdemeanor case to trial, and the probability of acquittal upon reaching trial. Defendants charged with more serious crimes, persons crimes, crimes with victims, and represented by private attorneys were more likely to go to trial than to be pleaded out. By contrast, very few factors influenced trial outcomes, and the effect of race was fairly weak. Perhaps most important is the finding that two in five cases going to trial resulted in acquittal, showing that guilt is not a foregone conclusion which may provide leverage to defendants in the plea-bargaining process.
K1 Plea bargaining
K1 Trial
K1 Acquittal
K1 Prosecution
DO 10.1177/0011128717695224