Legal Definitions - charge bargain

A charge bargain is a specific type of plea bargain where a prosecutor agrees to reduce the severity of the charges against a defendant, or to drop some of the charges entirely, in exchange for the defendant pleading guilty to the remaining or lesser charges. This process avoids the need for a full trial, saving time and resources for both the prosecution and the defense, and often results in a less severe sentence for the defendant than they might face if convicted of the original, more serious charges at trial.

• Example 1: Reducing a Felony Charge
  A person is arrested and initially charged with aggravated burglary, a serious felony carrying a potential sentence of many years in prison. After reviewing the evidence, the prosecutor offers a charge bargain: if the defendant pleads guilty to simple burglary, a less severe felony, the aggravated burglary charge will be dropped.

  This illustrates a charge bargain because the prosecutor is reducing the severity of the primary charge (from aggravated to simple burglary) in exchange for a guaranteed guilty plea, thereby avoiding a trial on the more serious offense.

• Example 2: Dropping Multiple Charges
  A defendant is accused of several offenses stemming from a single incident, including felony grand theft auto, misdemeanor reckless driving, and misdemeanor resisting arrest. Through a charge bargain, the prosecutor agrees to drop the charges for reckless driving and resisting arrest if the defendant pleads guilty to only the grand theft auto charge.

  This is a charge bargain because the prosecutor is dropping multiple charges in exchange for a guilty plea to a single, albeit serious, charge, streamlining the legal process and potentially limiting the defendant's overall exposure to multiple convictions.

• Example 3: Negotiating a Lesser Included Offense
  A driver is involved in an accident and is initially charged with vehicular manslaughter, a felony. During negotiations, the prosecutor offers a charge bargain where the driver can plead guilty to reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor (which is a lesser included offense that does not require a death), in exchange for the felony vehicular manslaughter charge being dismissed.

  This demonstrates a charge bargain as the prosecutor is allowing the defendant to plead guilty to a less severe version of the original offense, effectively reducing the potential penalties by dropping the more serious felony charge.