Plea bargains

I was surprised to find that Chris has been asked to lecture on plea bargaining while he is Finland. As a former Fulton County Public Defender, plea bargaining is something I know well. I would walk into the jury room with my 20 case files and start to dance with the prosecutor. Preparation included knowing all the weaknesses in the state's case and what your client was willing to take. The biggest weapon you had for extracting a decent plea bargain was to say, "Okay, bring it on." Sometimes the best offers came after you announced ready on the trial calendar.

Plea bargaining is not part of the process in Europe. Chris sent me this article from the Helsingin Sanomat:

Working group to look into possibility of reduced sentences in exchange for admission of guilt

Minister of Justice Tuija Brax (Green League) has set up a working group to look into the possibility of giving reduced sentences to criminal suspects in exchange for their admissions of guilt.



Plea bargaining is a disturbing practice if you think about it
for too long. It will be interesting to watch how plea bargaining develops in Finland.