Is plea bargaining just an incentive for the defendant to plead guilty?
I cannot answer that question and I am certainly not in a position to do so; I can only speculate, but judging from the case of a young woman who refused a plea deal and unsuccessfully pleaded her case, it seems that those who lose their cases after rejecting a plea deal that was offered seem to be penalized.
The young woman in question is Jennifer Mee from Florida. At nineteen she arranged a date with a young man with the intention of robbing him; hers two male friends of hers carried out the robbery that ended fatally.
Under Florida law, all participants in a fatal robbery are as equally guilty of the murder as the person who committed the murder, even if they themselves had nothing to do with the murder.
The only question I’d like to know the answer to is, “Why didn’t Jennifer’s attorney advise her to take the plea deal if Jennifer was clearly guilty of murder under Florida law?”
Whether one agrees to this law, that is the law in Florida whether we like it or not.
If you are practicing sports, this is not the time to be discussing the rules of the game while practicing.
Jennifer’s attorney must have known that she was clearly guilty based on the evidence.
He was offered a fifteen-year sentence as a plea deal for pleading guilty, but instead pleaded not guilty.
Jennifer was an uneducated woman in her twenties with little experience in life, so it’s easy to see why she would have taken professional advice.
She was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
What a difference in sentences, fifteen years for pleading guilty or life without parole for pleading not guilty. Is this last sentence a penalty for defending yourself?
I’m not a legal expert, but this seems to be unethical, if not illegal.
The harsh sentence appears to be for defending himself and not for participating in a fatal robbery.
Here are some facts that should be considered:
1 Jennifer Had No Prior Conviction
2 Jennifer Had No History Of Violence
3 Jennifer had no intention of killing the victim.
4 Jennifer is not responsible for what another person does with a firearm.
I simply cannot understand why any attorney would have advised Jennifer to take a plea deal since, based on the facts of the case, she was facing an indefensible charge.
One simply wonders if plea deals are really ethical because a person is guilty or not guilty, so someone who is not guilty can take a plea deal.
Plea agreements provide an incentive for the defendant to plead guilty with the promise of a reduced sentence. Those who reject the plea agreement are punished for defending the charges.
I asked Jennifer why she never took the plea deal she was offered.
She said: “His lawyer told him he was going to be put on trial.”
No reason was given for this decision, but according to Jennifer, she was under the impression that life meant 25 years, and compared to what she was offered in the plea deal, she’s better off fighting.
It is true that Jennifer did not kill anyone but, according to Florida law, she was just as guilty of murder as the one who pulled the trigger, even though she or others involved in this crime never intended to kill the victim.
So how could Jennifer’s attorney not see that? That’s a question I probably won’t get an answer to.
