Defendants in the US have the right to a jury trial, but may waive it due to costs, risks, or the option of a plea deal. Jury trials are expensive for both parties, and juries may base their verdict on irrelevant evidence. Plea deals offer a predetermined sentence and avoid the risk and expense of a trial.
In most criminal cases in the United States, a defendant has an absolute right to have his case decided by a jury made up of his peers. The right, however, can be exercised by the defendant or waived. There are a number of reasons why defendants may choose to waive their right to jury trials, but the most common reasons are the expenses involved, the risks involved if the defendant loses, and the option to accept a favorable plea deal. place of a process.
Jury trials can be costly for both the state and the defendant. The cost of bringing in a jury pool for voir dire, the time it takes to select jury members, and the extra expense of expert witnesses needed for jury trials can add up quickly for the state. A defense attorney will also charge the defendant accordingly, which means jury trials are also more expensive for the defendant. If a trial is unavoidable, both parties may agree to forgo a jury trial in favor of a trial in front of a judge or a trial in court. A court trial allows both parties to present and argue their case to a judge instead of a jury, thus reducing costs.
Risk is another important factor for defendants when deciding whether to opt out of jury trials. A judging panel is made up of randomly selected community members. While they are schooled in the law, they have not studied it as a judge has, and so a jury often bases its verdict on evidence that one side or the other deemed irrelevant or flimsy. Jury trials are a gamble for defendants: They usually win big or lose big. Winning means an acquittal and the defendant goes free, while losing typically means a much harsher sentence than offered through pre-trial plea negotiations.
In most cases, a defendant will be offered a plea deal before the case proceeds to trial. A plea deal allows the defendant to plead guilty to all or some of the charges in exchange for a predetermined sentence that is usually significantly less than what the defendant would face in a trial. The benefit to the state of offering plea deals is that they avoid the risk of acquittals and the expense of jury trials. The defendant also avoids the risk of being sentenced to trial and consequently incurring a much longer or more severe sentence.
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