STAFF EDIT: A fair shot at innocence

In an article in yesterday’s New York Times, journalist Richard Oppel reported on a recent trend in criminal prosecutors extracting a higher number of guilty pleas from defendants. According to some experts, process has become “coercive in many state and federal jurisdictions, forcing defendants to weigh their options based on the relative risks of facing a judge and jury rather than simple matters of guilt or innocence.”

Now only one in 40 felony cases actually reach trial, according to statistics from nine states, when in the 1970s it was about one in 12. The Times cited the case of Florida vs. Shane Guthrie in explaining the phenomenon. Guthrie was offered a deal for two years prison plus probation for beating and threatening his girlfriend, which he subsequently rejected. He was then offered five years, which he also rejected, and upon his refusal, the prosecution filed a more serious charge of life imprisonment upon conviction.

Measures like these are not only unnecessary; they are completely unjust for defendants. Those accused of a crime should be guaranteed a fair trial under the United States Constitution, and part of having a fair trial is the promise of a sentence that fits the crimes committed. Defendants should not have to worry about being put away for 50 years when their offenses merit a yearlong stint in the big house with a side of community service. This coercion on the part of the prosecution is nothing but an incentive for defendants to not even put up a fight for their innocence, and that is the real crime.

Understandably, many of these prosecutors push for cases to end before trial because the state simply does not have the resources to deal with all of the potential trials. Public defense lawyers are severely underpaid and can therefore only try so many cases. But other solutions to this problem present themselves. If public defense attorneys are in such high demand, then their salaries should be raised to attract more to the profession. This would also create more jobs, an added bonus for government in its constant quest for economic equilibrium.

All defendants deserve a fair shot at proving their innocence, and prosecutors with too much power preventing the implementation of trials is anything but fair.