Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

Right. Plea deals are "I'll plead guilty and save you the trial in exchange for this sentence."

Depending on the court, plea deals can be a horrible gamble by a defendant. Generally you have to enter your guilty plea first, and then the judge decides if they want to let you have that sweet, sweet sentence the prosecution offered.

I know someone who went to court having been offered a plea deal for probation and got 80 years instead when the judge rejected it and sentenced them.




Yeah, this shocked me when I learned it. The actual "deal" is the defendant agrees to plea guilty in exchange for the prosecution giving a specific recommendation of sentence. (In most cases, there are some exceptions of course)




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: