Also known as: plea · pleas · plea negotiation · plea negotiations · plea bargaining · plea bargain · plea deal · guilty plea
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A defendant's communications with prosecutors about entering a guilty plea or nolo contendere plea, which receive special protections against later use as evidence. These discussions also trigger duties for defense counsel to follow client decisions on whether to plead and for courts to record or enter pleas when a defendant declines to respond.
Paula Pierce faced theft charges and met with the prosecutor to discuss a reduced plea. During later civil litigation the plaintiff attempted to introduce Paula's statements from those talks to show awareness of wrongdoing. The court excluded the evidence because the discussions never produced an accepted plea.
Paige Porter entered a guilty plea that the court accepted. When the state later tried to prosecute her again on the same conduct, the court dismissed the new case because the accepted plea counted as a conviction under double-jeopardy rules.
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Portia Price's lawyer urged her to accept a plea deal that would avoid trial. Portia decided she wanted to go to trial instead. The lawyer respected that decision and prepared for trial rather than overriding her choice.
Pilar Pena refused to respond when the judge asked how she pleaded to the charges. The court immediately entered a not-guilty plea on her behalf and set the case for trial.
Penelope Price signed a written waiver allowing her plea-negotiation statements to be used for impeachment. At trial she gave testimony that contradicted those statements. The prosecutor introduced the statements to challenge her credibility.
Priya Prasad pleaded guilty but later withdrew the plea with court permission. The prosecution then tried to use the withdrawn plea against her at trial. The court excluded the evidence because the plea had been withdrawn.
Statements made during plea discussions are generally inadmissible in civil or criminal cases against the defendant who participated in them. This protection applies whether the discussions produced a plea or not, and it covers withdrawn guilty pleas as well.
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An accepted guilty plea that results in a judgment of conviction bars retrial under double-jeopardy principles. The bar applies even if judgment has not yet been formally entered, provided the plea was accepted for reasons other than the defendant's own motion.
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The client decides whether to enter a plea. Counsel must consult with the client and abide by that decision after providing advice on the consequences.
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The court must enter a plea of not guilty when the defendant refuses to respond or when a defendant organization fails to appear.
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A defendant may voluntarily and knowingly waive the protections of the evidence rule that excludes plea statements, allowing those statements to be used for impeachment at trial.
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…and H.R. 11508, 72d Cong., 1st Sess., ser. 12 (1932) 97-104; Sen. Rep. No. 530, 72d Cong., 1st Sess. (1932) 4-6; Collier, A Plea Against Jurisdiction Because of Diversity (1913) 76 Cent. L.J. 263, 264, 266; Frankfurter, supra note 6; Ball, supra note 6; Warren, Corporations and Diversity of Citizenship (1933) 19…