A negotiated plea agreement in a criminal matter between the prosecutor and the attorney for the accused
The plea bargain usually results in the defendant pleading guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for a reduction in the severity of the penalty.
Courts favor plea bargains because they result in judicial expediency and predictability in the outcome of the matter.
Today, more than 95 percent of all criminal cases are resolved through the plea bargain process.
To illustrate how pervasive plea bargaining has become, Supreme Court Justice Kennedy stated in his opinion in Missouri v. Frye, “…[I]n today’s criminal justice system the negotiation of a plea bargain is not just some adjunct to the criminal justice system – it is the criminal justice system.”
