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Stephan Jaksch

Plea Bargaining Role Analysis

In the plea-bargaining simulation, I played the role of a public defender. The public

defender is a repeat player in the court system as he or she works with the same individuals

(judge, prosecutor) and in similar courtrooms to help defendants. In this role, I was responsible

for ensuring that the defendants were aided throughout the courtroom process, whether that was

helping defendants receive a plea bargain or helping them enter into a trial, and ensuring that

they understood the charges brought against them and the options of how to proceed in the court

system. Overall, for each case I had to explain to these accused individuals the charges that were

brought against them, the potential punishments received if convicted, and educate them on the

difference between plea bargaining and going to trial. I also had to review their individual case,

hear their own side of the situation, and then consult with the District Attorney in order to

discuss these cases and lessen the punishments as much as possible for those who wanted to

enter into a plea bargain.

For each case brought before me, I reviewed each of the cases and read about the history

and background information of the accused individual. I then briefly interviewed the defendant

to understand their perspective on the situation and discussed the charges brought against them

and the penalties they could face because of those charges. After explaining the possible charges

and punishments, I explained the process of plea-bargaining and going to trial, gave my personal

recommendation, and then allowed them to decide on how they would like to proceed. Lastly, I

spoke with the District Attorney about each of my cases to get her opinion and perspective on

them and to determine if any plea deals could be entered into these cases. All of the defendants I

worked with wanted to enter into a plea deal once I explained the possible punishments with a
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plea deal versus the uncertainty of what could happen if the case proceeded to a trial.

Additionally, several defendants in their plea deal noted that if they received a reduced sentence

then they would give information to the legal authorities about other individuals who were

involved in the crimes they committed. I was the sole individual who worked with the District

Attorney to get the defendants the best deal possible and discussed with the defendants how they

would like to proceed forward with the charges.

From this simulation, I learned that emotion can and is used to sway the judge and

prosecutor in order to receive lighter punishments for defendants. In several cases, as a public

defender I appealed to the emotions of the prosecutor in order to reduce my defendant’s possible

punishment. For example, in State v. Buckley I continually emphasized that Buckley was a

college student on a scholarship who could not afford to go to jail, as she would possibly lose her

scholarship and have to drop out of college. Similarly, in State v. Erikson, I argued to the

prosecutor that Erikson had other children at home and thus should not spend an extremely long

time in jail so she could reunite with her family and receive the proper treatment she needed.

Additionally, through this simulation I learned that when the District Attorney and I made

plea bargains, the judge was very likely to support the plea bargain we initially agreed on. If both

the prosecutor and defense (public defender in this simulation) are in agreement and are

assigning punishments that fit the crimes committed according to statutes, then there is very little

motive for the judge to alter the plea bargain as this extra time taken to negotiate would only

lengthen the docket of cases. The most important conversations that took place were between the

prosecutor and myself as I was able to understand her line of reasoning and perspective in order

to lessen the crimes that would be charged and punishments that would be given. I learned that it

was essential to speak with the District Attorney for an amount of time in order to win him or her
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over so that the punishments for the defendants could be reduced and so that the defendant did

not have to go to trial.

This simulation confirmed several concepts from class readings and from additional

research completed. I soon realized in the simulation that public defenders are overwhelmed with

a large amount and variety of cases. I could only spend a very short amount of time on each of

the cases before me. After briefly reading the description of the accused individual, I would call

them over and ask to hear their side of the story, explain the charges brought against them and

give them options of how to move forward. I had little time to consult and talk with each

defendant extensively about his or her case. The extremely large and vast caseload that I

experienced is also a problem felt by public defenders in real courtrooms. For example, in 2009

in Minnesota, 779 cases was the average caseload for a public defender.1 Additionally, in Miami

Dade County in Florida in 2008, the average number of felony cases handled by a lawyer in a

year rose to almost 500, whereas the average number of misdemeanor cases for public defenders

rose to 2,225.2 This number has only increased with time. The number of cases that a public

defender has to oversee is very large and does not allow them to spend the proper amount of time

reviewing each individual case and consulting fully with the defendant so that each defendant

receives his or her due process.

Furthermore, all of the cases that I oversaw (4 in total) ended in plea deals. None of my

cases continued to trial. This trend reflects and confirms class readings that state that the majority

of cases end in plea deals and not in trials.3 My cases covered a variety of topics from forgery to

1
Heather Baxter, "Too Many Clients, Too Little Time: How States Are Forcing Public Defenders to Violate Their
Ethical Obligations," Federal Sentencing Reporter 25, no. 2 (2012), 91.
2
Erik Eckholm, “Citing Workload, Public Lawyers Reject New Cases,” New York Times, November 8, 2008.
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/us/09defender.html
3
David W. Neubauer and Stephen S. Meinhold, Judicial Process: Law, Courts, and Politics in the United States
(Cengage Learning, 2017), 247.
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possession of drugs to an accidental homicide. Soon into the simulation, I realized that plea deals

would be the best result for all of the actors in the courtroom. A plea deal would get the accused

out of jail, would give certainty to the accused of what their future would be, and would allow

them to bring down their charge and punishment substantially. This also saved time in the

process for all of those involved and saved the taxpayers money as no trial had to commence.

According to one study, because public defenders are paid an annual salary to take on as many

cases as possible, it is rarely in the best interest for the public defender to go to trial because they

do not get paid more, but are only making more work for themselves.4 Thus, even though there

are some benefits to the defendants in taking plea deals, ultimately the public defender benefits

the most as they can move on to other cases they need to complete.

Unlike in a real courtroom, it seems to me that the defendants in the simulation were

more concerned about receiving lighter punishments compared to the criminal charge they

received. However, in actual plea-bargaining, the charge given to an individual can be just as

damaging to their life as it can affect public benefits they receive, future employment

opportunities, and applying to college or future schooling.5 As long as the punishments were not

incredibly harsh, the defendants accepted the charges that I was able to negotiate for them. In a

real courtroom, I as a public defender would have had to fought harder to reduce not only the

punishments, but also the charges given to the accused.

Furthermore, in this simulation I saw several benefits of the courtroom work group, but

additional research demonstrates that it might not be that advantageous to the defendants. After

working, with the District Attorney on the first case or two, we had a good working relationship

4
Heather Baxter, "Too Many Clients, Too Little Time: How States Are Forcing Public Defenders to Violate Their
Ethical Obligations," Federal Sentencing Reporter 25, no. 2 (2012), 94.
5
Erik Eckholm, “Citing Workload, Public Lawyers Reject New Cases,” New York Times, November 8, 2008.
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/us/09defender.html
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in front of the judge and were able to negotiate well on what we wanted. Had I only completed

one case in front of the District Attorney and judge, I would likely not have been as successful as

I would not have those personal relationships where I understood their perspectives and values.

However, this belief from the simulation does not necessarily translate into the success of public

defenders in actual courtrooms. One study examined the effectiveness of public defenders

compared to retained counsel in four of Florida’s largest counties. These results of a study

conducted in Florida’s 4 largest counties indicated that defendants with public defenders were

less likely to have their charges dismissed compared to defendants with a retained counsel. Out

of these 4 counties, 83% of defendants received public defenders. Defendants with public

defenders were not only more likely to be convicted compared to defendants with retained

counsel, but were also more likely to be detained before the outcome of a case.6 This research is

in contrast to information detailed in class readings that state that public defenders may be more

favorable to their defendants than other lawyers because they will likely pay more attention to

these cases than an appointed attorney and are more experienced with statutes.7

In conclusion, this simulation helped me to better understand the importance of public

defenders during the process of plea-bargaining. This simulation confirmed several of my

perceptions of public defenders that already existed due to class readings, but there were a few

differences that existed between this simulation and outside research that surprised me.

6
Marian R. Williams, “The Effectiveness of Public Defenders in Four Florida Counties,” Journal of Criminal
Justice 41, no. 4 (July 2013), 210.
7
David W. Neubauer and Stephen S. Meinhold, Judicial Process: Law, Courts, and Politics in the United States
(Cengage Learning, 2017), 140.
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Works Cited

Baxter, Heather. "Too Many Clients, Too Little Time: How States Are Forcing Public Defenders

to Violate Their Ethical Obligations." Federal Sentencing Reporter 25, no. 2 (2012): 91-

102.

Eckholm, Erik. “Citing Workload, Public Lawyers Reject New Cases.” New York Times,

November 8, 2008. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/us/09defender.html

Neubauer, David W. and Stephen S. Meinhold. Judicial Process: Law, Courts, and Politics in

the United States. 7th ed. Cengage Learning, 2017.

Williams, Marian R. “The Effectiveness of Public Defenders in Four Florida Counties.” Journal

of Criminal Justice 41, no. 4 (July 2013): 205-12.