Plead Guilty or Go to Trial?

When a criminal defendant makes the decision whether to plead guilty or go to trial, he or she often has much more to consider than whether he or she is actually innocent. Read on and learn more.

Pros of Pleading Guilty

• Resolving the case more quickly than if he or she waited a year or more for a criminal trial.
• Another advantage of pleading guilty is the expense for a lawyer is generally less when the lawyer does not have to go to trial. 
• When a criminal defendant pleads guilty when represented by legal counsel, he or she usually does so through the process of plea bargaining. 

Cons of Pleading Guilty

• Innocent people may be subjected to criminal punishments, such as having to go to jail and pay fines for crimes that they did not commit.
• In some jurisdictions, there is a statutory minimum sentence that the prosecutor cannot get around. 
• If the Judge does not like the sentence that was suggested by the prosecutor and the criminal defense lawyer, they can generally reject it and impose a longer sentence.

Pros of Going to Trial

• Going to trial buys the criminal defendant more time to prepare his or her defense and spend time with family before potentially going to jail.
• Going to trial and receiving an acquittal is the only way for an innocent person to have justice. 
• Another benefit of going to trial is that the criminal defendant receives all of the benefits of the United States Constitution. 
• Police misconduct or a failure to follow rules can get evidence suppressed so that it is not used against the criminal defendant at the trial.

Cons of Going to Trial

• Juries are often difficult to predict. 
• A defendant also faces the maximum penalty for a crime.