Criminal Defense of Immigrants

The role of the prosecution in plea bargaining is very powerful.[38]  The prosecutor, however, unlike the defense, need not satisfy a separate “client.”  Defense counsel can appeal to the prosecutor’s fairness and use any factor the prosecutor believes may legitimately influence the exercise of prosecutorial discretion.

[38] D. Rossman, Criminal Law Advocacy: Guilty Pleas § 8.03 (1983); Alschuler, The Prosecutor’s Role in Plea Bargaining, 36 U. Chi. L. Rev. 50 (1968); Note, Guilty Plea Bargaining: Compromise by Prosecutors to Secure Guilty Pleas, 112 U. PA. L. Rev. 865 (1964).