DEVELOPMENT OF PLEA BARGAINING IN THE ADMINISTRATION ...

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NIALS Journal of Law and Development
involves the defendant’s pleading guilty to a lesser offense in
return for a lighter sentence.” The phrase is a radical
departure from the true nature and reality of plea bargaining
as it ignores the various advantages and benefits that may
accrue to an accused person in exchange for his guilty plea.
The variety of concessions the state offers defendants extends
to the limits of the prosecutor’s or judge’s imagination. These
concessions generally can be divided into two categories:
charge bargaining concession and sentence bargaining
concession. 22 Charge bargaining involves offering a
reduction of the charges as the dismissal of one or more of
the charges in exchange for the guilty plea. For example, in a
trial for five charges (or counts as the case may be), it may be
agreed that the accused pleas guilty to two in exchange for
withdrawal of the remaining three. On the other hand,
sentence bargaining includes a wide range of offers that
extends beyond merely an offer for a lighter sentence in
return for a guilty plea. It is on this note that we are in
agreement with Professor that the definition under review is
inadequate.
At this juncture, it suffices to say that the most preferred
definition is that given by Alschuler, A.W, which sees plea
bargaining as “the defendant’s agreement to plead guilty to a
criminal charge with the reasonable expectation of receiving
some consideration from the State. 23 This definition is wide
enough to cover both charge bargain and sentence bargain. In
a compendium, plea bargaining is an arrangement, informally
but legally, where the prosecutor makes concessions or
overtures to an accused person that certain charges or
sentences would be eliminated or made lighter if the accused
admits guilt. 24
22. Miller, op. cit. at 30.
23. See Alschuler A.W.: “Plea Bargaining and Its History” (1979), 79 Colum.
L. Rev. 1, 3.
24. Alubo A.O. op cit. at p. 11.