Reject a plea deal at your own peril

People accused of crimes have the right to a trial by a jury of their peers, but the vast majority accept plea offers from the state.

If they didn’t, we’ve been told, criminal courts would be overwhelmed and cases would not be resolved in a timely manner. The courts would need more employees. Cops and experts from the state labs would be called on constantly to testify. More victims would have to relive their crimes on the witness stand. Citizens would be summoned often to jury duty.

Some of us love to watch a good trial, but maybe it doesn’t make sense for every case to be tried. And sometimes the plea bargain really is a bargain. At a sentencing recently in New London, Superior Court Judge Arthur C. Hadden spoke of the “discount” that courts give to those who accept plea deals. The defendant, accused of robbing and assaulting a friend, had rejected an offer and opted for a trial. He had testified on his own behalf and denied the crime, but the jury chose to believe the victim, who also testified.

The rejected offer involved a prison sentence that was substantially shorter than the seven years that Hadden imposed, according to prosecutor Rafael I. Bustamante. Defense attorney Theodore Koch noted that the man’s codefendant had waited until his client was found guilty, then accepted an offer to plead guilty in exchange for a 45-month sentence.

“Regarding people who go to trial getting longer sentences, that fact clearly is an indication of the discount one gets for saving the state’s time and the jury’s time,” Hadden said.