On Wed, 25 Aug 2004, Bill Bartlett wrote:
> The US system of "plea bargaining", in the context of draconian
> penalties applied to accused persons who dare to exercise their right
> to a fair trial, effectively amount to (and are deliberately designed
> to) compel people to testify against themselves.
I think Bill has a valid point here. This plea bargaining shit has always seemed like a clear violation of the Constitution to me. If I were to pressure someone to provide testimony in a court case by using threats, I'd be arrested. Why is it different for DAs? Justin, Nathan, how do lawyers finesse this?
Miles