Plea decision-making by attorneys and judges
Tóm tắt
Approximately 95 % of convictions in the United States are the result of guilty pleas. Surprisingly little is known about the factors which judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys consider in these decisions. To examine the legal and extralegal factors that legal actors consider in plea decision-making, we replicated and improved upon a 40-year-old study by asking legal actor participants to review a variety of case factors, and then make plea decisions and estimate sentences for pleas and trials (upon conviction). Over 1,500 defense attorneys, prosecutors, and judges completed an online survey involving a hypothetical legal case in which the presence of three types of evidence and length of defendant criminal history were experimentally manipulated. The manipulated evidence impacted plea decisions and discounts, whereas criminal history only affected plea discounts (i.e., the difference between plea and trial sentences). Defense attorneys considered the largest number of factors (evidentiary and non-evidentiary), and although legal actor role influenced the decision to plead, it did not affect the discount. In replicating a landmark study, via technological advances not available in the 1970s, we were able to increase our sample size nearly six-fold, obtain a sample representing all 50 states, and include judges. However, our sample was nonrepresentative and the hypothetical scenario may or may not generalize to actual situations. Nonetheless, valuable information was gained about the factors considered and weighed by legal actors.
Tài liệu tham khảo
Albonetti, C. A. (1990). Race and the probability of pleading guilty. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 6, 315–334. doi:10.1007/BF01065413.
Alschuler, A. (1968). The prosecutor’s role in plea bargaining. University of Chicago Law Review, 36, 50–112.
American Bar Association. (2012). Lawyer demographics. Retrieved from: http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/migrated/marketresearch/PublicDocuments/lawyer_demographics_2012_revised.authcheckdam.pdf.
Bibas, S. (2004). Plea bargaining outside the shadow of trial. Harvard Law Review, 117, 2463–2547.
Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2013). Felony defendants in large urban counties, 2009. Retrieved from http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/fdluc09.pdf, on April 15, 2016.
Bushway, S. D., & Redlich, A. D. (2012). Is plea bargaining in the “shadow of trial” a mirage? Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 28, 437–454. doi:10.1007/s10940-011-9147-5.
Bushway, S. D., Redlich, A. D., & Norris, R. J. (2014). An explicit test of plea bargaining in the “shadow of the trial”. Criminology, 52, 723–754.
Devine, D. J., Clayton, L. D., Dunford, B. D., Seying, R., & Pryce, J. (2001). Jury decision-making: 45 years of empirical research. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 7, 622–727. doi:10.1037//1076-8971.7.3.622.
Devine, D. J., Buddenbaum, J., Houp, S., Studebaker, N., & Stolle, D. P. (2009). Strength of the evidence, extraevidentiary influence, and the liberation hypothesis: data from the field. Law and Human Behavior, 33, 136–148. doi:10.1007/s10979-008-9144-x.
Ebbeson, E. B., & Konecni, V. J. (1975). Decision making and information integration in the courts: the setting of bail. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32, 805–811.
Edelman, L. B., Leachman, G., & McAdam, D. (2010). On law, organizations, and social movements. Annual Review of Law and Social Science, 6, 653–685.
Edkins, V. A. (2011). Defense attorney plea recommendations and client race: does zealous representation apply equally to all? Law and Human Behavior, 35, 413–425. doi:10.1007/s10979-010-9254-0.
Eisenberg, T., & Hans, V. (2009). Taking a stand on taking the stand: the effect of a prior criminal record on the decision to testify and on trial outcomes. Cornell Law Review, 94, 1353–1390.
Elder, H. W. (1989). Trials and settlements in the criminal courts: an empirical analysis of dispositions and sentencing. The Journal of Legal Studies, 18, 191–208.
Emmelman, D. S. (1998). Gauging the strength of evidence prior to plea bargaining: the interpretive procedures of court-appointed defense attorneys. Law and Social Inquiry, 22, 927–955. doi:10.1111/j.1747-4469.1997.tb01093.x.
Frenzel, E. D., & Ball, J. D. (2007). Effects of individual characteristics on plea negotiations under sentencing guidelines. Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, 5, 59–82. doi:10.1300/J222v05n04_03.
Garvey, S. P., Hannaford-Agor, P., Hans, V. P., Mott, N. L., Munsterman, G. T., & Wells, M. T. (2004). Juror first votes in criminal trials. Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 1, 371–399.
Goodman-Delahunty, J., Granhag, P. A., Hartwig, M., & Loftus, E. F. (2010). Insightful or wishful: Lawyers’ ability to predict case outcomes. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 16, 133–157.
Greene, E. (1988). Judge’s instruction on eyewitness testimony: evaluation and revision. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 18, 252–276. doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.1988.tb00016.x.
Heller, K. J. (2006). The cognitive psychology of circumstantial evidence. Michigan Law Review, 105, 241–305.
Heumann, M. (1981). Plea bargaining: The experiences of prosecutors, judges, and defense attorneys. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Johnson, B. D. (2005). Contextual disparities in guidelines departures: courtroom social contexts, guidelines compliance, and extralegal disparities in criminal sentencing. Criminology, 43, 761–796.
Kalven, H., & Zeisel, H. (1966). The American jury. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Kassin, S. M. (2012). Why confessions trump innocence. American Psychologist, 67, 431–445. doi:10.1037/a002812.
Kassin, S. M., & Neumann, K. (1997). On the power of confession evidence: an experimental test of the fundamental difference hypothesis. Law and Human Behavior, 21, 469–484. doi:10.1023/A:1024871622490.
Kassin, S. M., Drizin, S., Grisso, T., Gudjonsson, G., Leo, R. A., & Redlich, A. D. (2010). Police-induced confessions: risk factors and recommendations. Law and Human Behavior, 34, 3–38. doi:10.1007/s10979-009-9188-6.
Kellough, G., & Wortley, S. (2002). Remand for plea: bail decisions and plea bargaining as commensurate decisions. British Journal of Criminology, 42, 186–210. doi:10.1093/bjc/42.1.186.
Kerlinger, F. N., & Lee, H. B. (2000). Foundations of behavioral research (4th ed.). Belmont: Cengage Learning.
Koehler, J. J. (2001). When are people persuaded by DNA match statistics? Law and Human Behavior, 25, 493–513. doi:10.1023/A:1012892815916.
Kramer, G. M., Wolbransky, M., & Heilbrun, K. (2007). Plea bargaining recommendations by criminal defense attorneys: evidence strength, potential sentence, and defendant preference. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 25, 573–585. doi:10.1002/bsl.759.
Kutateladze, B. L., Lawson, V. Z., & Adiloro, N. R. (2015). Does evidence really matter? An exploratory analysis of the role of evidence in plea bargaining in felony drug cases. Law and Human Behavior. doi:10.1037/lhb0000142.
Lacasse, C., & Payne, A. A. (1999). Federal sentencing guidelines and mandatory minimum sentences: do defendants bargain in the shadow of the judge? Journal of Law and Economics, 42, 245–270.
LaFree, G. D. (1985). Adversarial and non-adversarial justice: a comparison of guilty pleas and trials. Criminology, 23, 289–312. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.1985.tb00338.x.
Landes, W. (1971). An economic analysis of the courts. Journal of Labor Economics, 14(1), 61–107.
Lieberman, J. D., Carrell, C. A., Miethe, T. D., & Krauss, D. A. (2008). Gold versus platinum. Do jurors recognize the superiority and limitations of DNA evidence compared to other types of forensic evidence? Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 14, 27–62.
Lynch, T. (2003). The case against plea bargaining. Regulation, 24–27.
McAllister, H. A., & Bregman, N. J. (1986). Plea bargaining by prosecutors and defense attorneys: a decision theory approach. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71, 686–690. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.71.4.686.
McCormick, C. T. (1983). Handbook of the law of evidence (2nd ed.). St Paul: West.
McDonald, W. F. (1979). The prosecutor. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.
McDonald, W. F., & Cramer, J. A. (1980). Plea bargaining. Lexington: Lexington Books.
Miller, H. S., McDonald, W. F., & Cramer, J. A. (1978). Plea bargaining in the United States. Washington, DC: United States Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.
Mitchell, O. (2005). A meta-analysis of race and sentencing research: explaining the inconsistencies. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 21, 439–466. doi:10.1007/s10940-005-7362-7.
Mnookin, R. H., & Kornhauser, L. (1979). Bargaining in the shadow of the law: the case of divorce. Yale Law Journal, 88, 950–997.
Morrill, C., & Rudes, D. S. (2010). Conflict resolution in organizations. Annual Review of Law and Social Sciences, 6, 627–651.
Nagel, S. S., & Neef, M. G. (1979). Decision theory and the legal process. Lexington: Lexington.
Nardulli, P. F. (1979). The caseload controversy and the study of criminal courts. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 70, 89–101.
National Academy of Sciences. (2009). Strengthening forensic science in the United States: a path forward. Washington DC: National Academies Press.
Niedermeier, K. E., Kerr, N. L., & Messe, L. A. (1999). Jurors’ use of naked statistical evidence: exploring bases and implications of the Wells Effect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 533–542.
Oppel, R. A. (2011). Sentencing shift gives new leverage to prosecutors. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/26/us/tough-sentences-help-prosecutors-push-for-plea-bargains.html?pagewanted=all&_r=2&
People v. Falsetta 986 P. 2d 182 (1999).
Pezdek, K., & O’Brien, M. (2014). Plea bargaining and appraisals of eyewitness evidence by prosecutors and defense attorneys. Psychology Crime and Law, 20, 222–241. doi:10.1080/1068316X.2013.770855.
Redlich, A. D., Bushway, S. D., Norris, R., & Yan, S. (2014). Bargaining in the shadow of trial? Examining the reach of evidence outside the jury box. Award # 2009-IJ-CX-0035. Final report submitted to the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Washington, DC.
Rossman, H. H., McDonald, W. F., & Cramer, J. A. (1980). Some patterns and determinants of plea-bargaining decisions: A simulation and quasi-experiment. In W. F. McDonald & J. A. Cramer (Eds.), Plea bargaining (pp. 77–114). Lexington: Lexington Books.
Savitsky, J. C., & Lindblom, W. D. (1986). The impact of the guilty but mentally ill verdict on juror decisions: an empirical analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 16, 686–701. doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.1986.tb01753.x.
Schklar, J., & Diamond, S. S. (1999). Juror reactions to DNA evidence: errors and expectancies. Law and Human Behavior, 23, 159–184. doi:10.1023/A:1022368801333.
Smith, D. A. (1986). The plea bargain controversy. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 77, 949–968.
Spohn, C. (2000). Thirty years of sentencing reform: The quest for a racially neutral sentencing process. National Institute of Justice: Criminal Justice 2000. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.
Standen, J. (1993). Plea bargaining in the shadow of the guidelines. California Law Review, 81, 1471–1538.
Stuntz, W. J. (2004). Plea bargaining and criminal law’s disappearing shadow. Harvard Law Review, 117, 2548–2569.
Thompson, W. C. (2006). Tarnish on the gold standard: recent problems in forensic DNA testing. The Champion, 30(1),10-16.
Tonry, M. (1987). Sentencing guidelines and their effects. In A. Von Hirsch, M. Tonry, & K. Knapp (Eds.), The sentencing commission and its guidelines. New York: UPNE.
Ulmer, J. T., & Johnson, B. D. (2004). Sentencing in context: a multilevel analysis. Criminology, 42, 137–178.
Wells, G. L. (1992). Naked statistical evidence of liability: is subjective probability enough? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62, 739–752. doi:10.1037//0022-3514.62.5.739.