Most criminal cases don’t go to trial. Sometimes, the prosecution has no choice but to dismiss a case, mainly because of insufficient evidence. The prosecutors may also find it best not to pursue a case any further if a felony defendant prevails during the preliminary hearing. Moreover, a case is likely not to reach trial if a defendant’s attorney finds reason to file a motion to suppress evidence. However, most cases fail to reach trial because a defendant opts to take a plea bargain.

Plea bargains are a win-win for a defendant and the state. While defendants can use plea bargains to negotiate a lighter sentence, have some of their charges reduced, or end litigation before it becomes too expensive to retain an attorney, the state saves its resources and tax payer’s money. With an estimated 90% of cases that go to trial ending up with a guilty verdict, a good number of defendants find it best to plead guilty (no contest) and settle for a plea bargain.

How Often Do Criminal Cases Go To Trial?

Each year, thousands of criminal cases are filed in California. However, most cases are either dismissed or plea-bargained, making it unnecessary to go to trial. On average, less than 5% of all criminal cases go through the entire court process until trial.

Even though your attorney may not admit to avoiding trial, they may find a plea bargain to be your best way out. It could be that the expert lacks sufficient experience in handling trial cases or wants to avoid the time-consuming process altogether. If your case is up for a trial, your lawyer must prepare you effectively, not to mention that they must also spend weeks preparing for the case.

If you want to hire a private attorney, make sure that your expert of choice is honest and compassionate. This is a matter of primary importance, especially if you are wrongfully accused. An ideal criminal defense attorney will only advocate for a plea bargain if it offers you the best way out. Otherwise, the expert will willingly put in the work required to fight for you during the trial.

Ethical attorneys allow their clients to decide whether or not they want their case to go to trial. This means you should have a good idea about your options and their pros and cons. A lot of aspects must be taken into account before accepting a plea offer. First, your attorney must evaluate the evidence and the strength of the prosecution’s case. Second, the specialist will consider whether a plea offer offers you a substantially better outcome than you may achieve if your case proceeds to trial and you lose.

Moreover, any skilled attorney will also note the collateral repercussions of taking a case to trial. Sometimes, lawyers can negotiate for deals that involve probation, no jail time, and no criminal record. In this case, a plea bargain may seem like a sure deal, especially if losing in a trial means jail time and a criminal record. All the same, the defendant is responsible for making the ultimate decision.

So, what if you don’t like the plea deal?

If the prosecution offers you a raw deal, this makes it imperative to consider proceeding to trial. In this case, you have little to lose even if you don’t win. Another good reason to consider going to trial is if you are innocent of the charges made against you. Unfortunately, a plea bargain may still be the best option you have, despite your innocence.

Another reason why many criminal cases don’t go to trial is that they end up dismissed. A prosecutor may open a case against you with the hopes of finding new evidence along the way. Even though this sometimes happens, it is also possible for old evidence such as a key witness to disappear or refuse to testify.

Furthermore, judges have a responsibility to uphold the constitutional rights of all people, including defendants in criminal cases. Occasionally, a judge may find it fit to dismiss a case on grounds that the defendant’s constitutional rights have been violated. It could be that the defendant was a victim of illegal search and seizure or police coercion.

Most defendants have a common misconception that the trial process is as fast and smooth as what they see on TV. This cannot be further from the truth. In real life, trials drag on for months or years. Additionally, attorneys and prosecutors can’t pull out surprise evidence. The truth is that there are rules of evidence that must be respected. Certain evidence a defendant may want to use is either out of bounds according to the rules of evidence or inadmissible in court.

What Percentage Of Federal Criminal Cases Goes To Trial?

An estimated 2% of all criminal cases go through all the court processes until trial. This means that in the federal criminal justice system, trials are a rare thing. It remains imperative to understand that acquittals during a trial are even rarer, and most defendants are at this point found guilty and convicted to serve their full sentences.

Research conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2018 showed that about 79,704 defendants were facing federal criminal charges. These are numbers from data made available by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Nearly 90% of these defendants charged with petty criminal offenses or felonies and serious misdemeanors took a plea bargain. Another 8% of these cases were dismissed for one reason or another, and only 2% of the federal criminal cases proceeded to trial.

 Unfortunately, most that did go to trial ended up with the defendants being convicted by either a judge or jury. Research shows that from the 79,704 federal criminal cases, only 320 cases reached trial and won. This is a depressing -1% of the felony criminal charges filed in that year.

The trial rates are always low when dealing with felony criminal cases, irrespective of defendants’ criminal charges. For instance, in 2018, only 1% of defendants facing charges for felony immigration offenses went to trial. There were 25,575 such cases in 2018, and only 89 of them went to trial.

Likewise, only 2% of defendants charged with drug offenses went to trial. The total number of cases was 21,771, and only 499 cases reached trial. Only 4% of defendants charged with property offenses went to trial in the same year. Even though the trends of criminal cases reaching trial are similar across the board, a slightly higher number of defendants facing charges for violent offenses went to trial in 2018. Research shows a total of 2,879 cases were filed, and about 192 of them proceeded to trial. This is about 7% of the cases.

Moreover, federal defendants who opted for bench trials in 2018 fared better than those who chose a jury trial. Four out of ten federal defendants who choose a bench trial were acquitted. While 38% of defendants whose cases were decided by a judge go acquitted, only 14% of cases decided by a jury ended in a not guilty verdict.

Jury trials are more common than bench trials. In 2018, 88% of federal criminal cases were decided by a jury, while only 12% of the cases were decided by a judge.

Generally, the federal courts have fewer trials and a substantially high number of guilty pleas. In less than 2 decades, the number of defendants facing federal charges who opt for a trial has dropped by over 60%. Even though trials have for decades been rare within the federal criminal justice system, they have become even rarer over time.

Experts have come up with all kinds of explanations for the steady decline in criminal trials. What is clear is that the “trial penalty” is a crisis that most defendants would rather avoid. If you choose to exercise your constitutional right to a trial and lose, you are likely to face substantially higher sentencing than you would if you opted for a plea bargain.

The above are merely statistics for federal criminal cases. The statistics for criminal trials run by state courts are harder to find because each state has a different court system. While there is no standardized record-keeping system for all states, the available data still shows a low rate of trials at state levels. In 2017, jury trials in 8 states were as follows:

  • 25% in California
  • 86% in Texas
  • 91% in New York
  • 11% in Pennsylvania
  • 53% in Florida
  • 12% in Michigan
  • 66% in North Carolina
  • 27% in Ohio

America’s Guilty Plea Problem; Why Most Cases Don’t Go to Trial

Its official, guilty pleas are on the rise as criminal trials become rarer with each passing year.

So, why are criminal trials on a steady decline?

According to the NACDL (National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers), the trial penalty is to blame for most defendants seeking to waive their 6th amendment right to a trial. Trials are on the verge of extinction, which is evident based on the available case studies, statistics, and data. Within the past five decades, only 3% of defendants with state or federal criminal cases choose to go to trial. The rest of the cases are dismissed, or the defendants opt for a plea bargain.

Plea bargains have enticing benefits to offer to the defendants, the state, the judge, and society. These perks are as follows:

Benefits to the Defendant

If you are facing criminal charges, you can secure your freedom as you await trial. However, not all defendants are granted bail, and some of those who can get out of custody by posting bail cannot afford it. The fear of spending months on end in jail while waiting for a case to be resolved is one of the leading reasons it may make sense to accept a plea bargain.

A plea bargain may involve a lesser sentence, such as probation or other alternative sentencing options. Even when a jail term is included, it may not be as lengthy as the sentence you may have served if you went to trial and lost.

Moreover, it is typical for judges to review a defendant’s criminal history if they are charged with other offenses in the future. During such instances, a no-contest plea looks better than a conviction after trial. Often, a criminal record is seen as an aggravating factor that must be considered if a defendant is charged with other offenses in the future.

In most cases, a plea deal involves reducing a felony charge to a misdemeanor. To a defendant, this may mean more than just lesser sentencing. It may also mean that you preserve your civil rights, retain your professional license and protect your job prospects in the future. Most states, including California, use the three-strike system, and it may make sense to use a plea bargain and plead guilty to a non-strike offense.

Benefits to the Society

A guilty verdict for serious offenses such as drug crimes, sex crimes, and domestic violence carries a lot of social stigmas. With a plea bargain, defendants can plead guilty to lesser offenses, preserve their reputation, and avoid lengthy sentencing. For instance, a plea deal can reduce a date rape crime into an assault, assuring a defendant better chances of preserving their relationships with family members and society.

Furthermore, proceeding to trial doesn’t guarantee acquittal. If a defendant goes to jail after being convicted for a serious sex crime such as rape, they are likely to receive harsh treatment from the correctional officers and fellow inmates. Pleading to a lesser offense can make serving prison time less distasteful.

Criminal trials attract a lot of publicity. Such publicity may not work in your best interests if you have a reputation to protect. Sometimes, defendants accept plea bargains for the sake of saving their family and loved ones from unwarranted embarrassment.

Benefits to Judges and Prosecutors

America has an overburdened justice system. Judges bear most of the burden, and it is not realistically possible to try all cases. With each defendant that accepts a plea bargain, judges gain one free slot on their work calendar.

Prosecutors, just like judges’ deal with overwhelming schedules and limited resources to pursue each criminal case. Through plea bargains, prosecutors can ensure “criminals” receive the minimum punishment for their crimes. Ultimately, they maintain a commendable success rate, protect their informants and avoid the risk of something not going as planned amid trial and having a case dismissed.

Benefits to the State

The state rips the most gains from defendants accepting plea bargains. First, criminal cases that are resolved quickly and inexpensively save taxpayers money. Second, overcrowding is a real issue in state and federal jails. It is in the state’s best interests to be lenient, especially with defendants facing charges for minor offenses.

Even with the above perks, defendants mainly choose to waive their right to a trial because a conviction may lead to an exponentially higher sentence. Sometimes, penalties can be so severe that they virtually demean the value of having hope in a fair justice system. Most defendants opt not to risk spending more time behind bars, especially if the prosecution offers a reasonable plea deal.

Plea deals are, in some cases, as enticing as giving you two years for a guilty plea instead of risking life imprisonment if you are found guilty during the trial. Considering the current 1% chance of acquittal if a case goes to trial, your attorney is obligated to inform you about the risks of rejecting a plea bargain.

So, is there a solution for America’s guilty plea issue? Are innocent people pleading guilty to crimes they didn’t commit?

Well, the solution for over 90% of defendants choosing to plead guilty is not straightforward. While experts propose allowing repealing mandatory minimum sentences and providing defendants with complete case discovery, this may not be enough to make the trial a more enticing option to accepting a plea bargain.

As we wait for real solutions, criminal trials will continue to decline as more and more defendants opt to plead guilty. It’s this simple; defendants who exercise their 6th amendment right to trial risk facing higher sentences. The risk of being convicted during trial is one that most defendants would rather avoid.

Find The LA Criminal Defense Law Firm Near Me

At The LA Criminal Defense Law Firm, we value honesty. We have good relations with the prosecutors that allow us to secure the best plea bargains for our clients and also have trial experience that gives us a winning chance if a case reaches trial. While this is the case, we also value the need to help our clients understand their options and know which route is more in line with their goals. Our commitment is to our clients, and we are always ready to adjust or reshape our representation to suit the needs and objectives of the people we defend. If you face criminal charges in Los Angeles, CA, we invite you for a free consultation and case evaluation. Call our Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer at 310-935-1675 and let us help you fight for your rights and best interests.