{"id":33700,"date":"2020-11-24T10:27:18","date_gmt":"2020-11-24T15:27:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.finchmccranie.com\/blog\/?p=33700"},"modified":"2022-09-14T10:43:38","modified_gmt":"2022-09-14T14:43:38","slug":"what-is-the-trial-penalty-and-does-it-mean-i-shouldnt-take-my-case-to-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.finchmccranie.com\/blog\/what-is-the-trial-penalty-and-does-it-mean-i-shouldnt-take-my-case-to-trial\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the \u201ctrial penalty\u201d in federal criminal cases and does it mean I shouldn\u2019t take my case to trial?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-33885 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.finchmccranie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/trial-penalty.jpg\" alt=\"trial penalty\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.finchmccranie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/trial-penalty.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.finchmccranie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/trial-penalty-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.finchmccranie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/trial-penalty-180x120.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/>Nobody accused of a federal crime should be penalized for exercising their Sixth Amendment right to trial.\u00a0 And yet, because of the trial penalty, that happens all too often.<a href=\"#_ftn1\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The trial penalty refers to \u201cthe substantial difference between the sentence offered in a plea offer prior to trial versus the sentence a defendant receives after trial.\u201d<a name=\"_ftnref1\"><\/a><a href=\"#_ftn2\" name=\"_ftnref2\">[2]<\/a>\u00a0 At least in part because of the trial penalty, federal criminal trials are on a steep decline.\u00a0 Thirty years ago, 20% of federal criminal cases went to trial.<a href=\"#_ftn3\" name=\"_ftnref3\">[3]<\/a>\u00a0 Today, fewer than 3% of federal criminal cases result in a trial, and more than 97% of criminal cases are resolved by plea.<a href=\"#_ftn4\" name=\"_ftnref4\">[4]<\/a>\u00a0 As the National Association for Criminal Defense Lawyers (\u201cNACDL\u201d) has accurately observed: \u201c[t]he Sixth Amendment right to trial [is] on the verge of extinction.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn5\" name=\"_ftnref5\">[5]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The trial penalty can be traced back to the sentencing reform push of the 1980s, which led to the creation of mandatory minimum sentencing provisions and the sentencing guidelines, and in turn, more powerful prosecutors and less powerful judges with more limited discretion.\u00a0 Charge and fact bargaining, excessive guidelines ranges, departure provisions conditioned on pleading guilty, and statutory mandatory minimums, are all key reasons for the emergence of the trial penalty.\u00a0 For example, rather than reserving mandatory minimum sentencing provisions for the most culpable defendants, prosecutors have at times used them \u201cto strong-arm guilty pleas, and to punish those who have the temerity to exercise their right to trial.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn6\" name=\"_ftnref6\">[6]<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"read_more_link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.finchmccranie.com\/blog\/what-is-the-trial-penalty-and-does-it-mean-i-shouldnt-take-my-case-to-trial\/\"  title=\"Continue Reading What is the \u201ctrial penalty\u201d in federal criminal cases and does it mean I shouldn\u2019t take my case to trial?\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nobody accused of a federal crime should be penalized for exercising their Sixth Amendment right to trial.\u00a0 And yet, because of the trial penalty, that happens all too often.[1] The trial penalty refers to \u201cthe substantial difference between the sentence offered in a plea offer prior to trial versus the sentence a defendant receives after [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-white-collar-and-federal-criminal-defense"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What is the \u201ctrial penalty\u201d in federal criminal cases and does it mean I shouldn\u2019t take my case to trial? &#8212; Trial Attorney Blog &#8212; November 24, 2020<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nobody accused of a federal crime should be penalized for exercising their Sixth Amendment right to trial.\u00a0 And yet, because of the trial penalty, that &#8212; November 24, 2020\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.finchmccranie.com\/blog\/what-is-the-trial-penalty-and-does-it-mean-i-shouldnt-take-my-case-to-trial\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"What is the \u201ctrial penalty\u201d in federal criminal cases and does it mean I shouldn\u2019t take my case to trial? &#8212; Trial Attorney Blog &#8212; November 24, 2020\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Nobody accused of a federal crime should be penalized for exercising their Sixth Amendment right to trial.\u00a0 And yet, because of the trial penalty, that &#8212; November 24, 2020\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.finchmccranie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/trial-penalty.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Finch McCranie, LLP\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What is the \u201ctrial penalty\u201d in federal criminal cases and does it mean I shouldn\u2019t take my case to trial? 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