Constitutional Rights and Plea Negotiations

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Constitutional Rights and Plea Negotiations A plea bargain is a process in which the defendant arranges a ‘deal’ with the prosecution. A plea bargain essentially means that a defendant charged with multiple crimes will plead guilty to a certain charge in order to escape going to trial for a more serious charge. In the United States, the majority of criminal cases are settled through plea bargains. Moreover, a guilty plea waives the constitutional right to trial and subordinates trial rights such as the right to confront one's accusers. Under the "doctrine of unconstitutional conditions," waivers of constitutional rights often are held invalid when they have been required as a condition for receiving favorable governmental treatment. To begin, the Bill of Rights explicitly guarantees several safeguards to the accused, including the right to be informed of the charges and the right not to be compelled to incriminate oneself. Additionally, the right to a speedy and public trial, the right to an impartial jury trial in the state and district where the offense allegedly took place, the right to cross-examine the state’s witnesses, the right to call witnesses on one’s own behalf, and the right to the assistance of counsel. These rights reflect our Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment rights. Moving on, in the case of Brady v. United States (1970), the Supreme Court affirmed plea negations were not unconstitutional. According to our textbook, Brady v. United States (1970) ruled that the voluntariness of a guilty plea was not encouraged by fear of a heavier sentence following trial, even though that fear was death under a statute that the Court declared unconstitutional subsequent to Brady's guilty plea. Moreover, it has held that defendants’ guilty pleas must be voluntary, and that defendants may only plead guilty if they know the consequences of doing so. McCarthy

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