To Plea or not to Plea

Charles Maclean

Law
Mr. Petrychanko
March 22nd,2013

Maclean 2

The oxford dictionary states that plea bargaining is an arrangement between prosecutor and
defendant whereby the defendant pleads guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for a more lenient
sentence or an agreement to drop other charges.1 . Plea bargaining is arguably one of the most used
tools in the hands of the justice system. Even in our neighbouring country the U.S an overwhelming
majority (90 to 95 percent) of cases result in plea bargaining.2In spite of public disapproval plea
bargains are a necessary tool of the justice system; they spare witnesses and increase the efficiency of
the court systems.
A main concern for the public is that these criminals are able to use the plea bargain to thier
advantage an example being Karla Homolka. The famous Paul Bernardo case in which Karla Homolka
was able to strike a deal with police where she would [plead] guilty to manslaughter in the deaths in
exchange for a 12-year prison sentence3 but further investigation had shown that she had been a more
active participant. This opens up concerns for the public that perhaps these plea bargains are allowing
dangerous criminals back on to the streets. Homolka is released after serving her 12 years sentence
with few minor conditions. If they committed the crimes together in the eyes of the public they should
serve the same sentence considering they both had the actus reus and mens rea within committing
these crimes.
However plea bargaining still proved to be effective tool in solving this case. Even though Karla
Homolka got a lesser sentence, look at it from the prosecution's point of view. They had Mr. Bernardo
in custody, but they were thin on evidence against him. A conviction on first-degree murder was by no
1

Soanes, Catherine, and Angus Stevenson. 2004. Concise Oxford English dictionary. New York: Oxford University Press.
http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/plea%2Bbargaining?q=plea+bargaining
2 https://www.bja.gov/Publications/PleaBargainingResearchSummary.pdf Lindsey Devers, Ph.D. CSR, Incorporated 2107
Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1000 Arlington, VA 20001
www.csrincorporated.com .Under Contract No. GS-10F-0114L, Order No. 2008-F_08151 .Janaury 24, 2011
3

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2010/06/16/f-bernardo-homolka-timeline.html Key events in the

Bernardo/Homolka case. Thursday, June 17, 2010 | 10:05 AM ET

means a sure thing. Along comes the accused man's wife looking for a deal. As the only witness to the
alleged crimes, her testimony in court would nail the case shut tight. Paul Bernardo would go down for
25 years, minimum, and he would not kill any more young women. All of this took place before the
infamous videotapes of the sexual assaults came to light. At the time, the plea bargain looked like a
very good deal for the Crown. And, that's the essence of the plea-bargaining process.4 The plea
bargain shows a person is sorry for their actions is designed to bring out those criminals in hopes of
closing a case and making society safer. A plea bargain is not always about catching the criminal,
sometimes it used to protect innocent victims.
In many cases a plea bargain can also be used as a defence mechanism. In can do so in the sense
that a plea can be reached in order to protect innocent children from having to testify or any distraught
victim. An example would be the case of Peter Whitmore who accepted life in prison for sexually
assaulting to boys ages 10 and 14 in order to avoid being declared a dangerous offender. The plea
bargain spares his victims reliving on the witness stand the horrors he put them through one year
ago5 To spare these already emotionally distraught children is the true justice here.
Some may still argue that the possibility of this dangerous man being released is still too much
of a risk. However as mentioned earlier a plea bargain is just one of the many tools in the disposal of
the justice system. Plea bargain is set in place to put the criminal behind bars but Now it's up to the
parole board to do its job. Regardless of whether he bears the dangerous offender tag, Whitmore is still
a repeat sex offender.6 So when it is time for his parole, the parole board will have to consider the
future safety of Canadian children; therefore Whitmore will clearly not be granted parole. So Whitmore
is behind bars , and these boys are saved from being forced to relive that traumatic experience.
4

http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=DASORT&inPS=true&prodId=AONE&userGroupName=ko_k12hs_d21&tabID=T003&searchId=R4&resultListType=RE
SULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&currentPosition=6&contentSet=GALE
%7CA17987046&&docId=GALE|A17987046&docType=GALE&role=
5http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA167346140&v=2.1&u=ko_k12hs_d21&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w "A fine
balance." Maclean's 6 Aug. 2007: 10. Academic OneFile. Web. 3 June 2013.
6http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA167346140&v=2.1&u=ko_k12hs_d21&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w "A fine
balance." Maclean's 6 Aug. 2007: 10. Academic OneFile. Web. 3 June 2013.

Along with the many benefits of plea bargaining comes efficiency. With crime reaching close
to 59 billion dollars per year7 and while the Justice system costs alone amount to 20% of the total,
or close to 12 billion dollars8 Plea bargains save the government millions of dollars, by cutting costs
of the expenses necessitated with trial , reduced judicial resources, as well as court room facilities. Plea
bargains act as an effective way to get the conviction needed without spending large amounts of money
on each and every case. Another way the plea bargain is effective is its ability to move cases through
the system so quickly opposed to a case involving a trial.
People are unsatisfied with the amount of time for the case to be fully processed by the court.
Canada wide the median length of time to complete an adult criminal court case was 118 days,
according to Statistics Canadas data for 2011/2012....That includes everything from shoplifting to
complicated criminal organization and homicide cases, accounting for about 403,000 cases.9 Plea
bargaining is able to effectively shorten that time due to the fact that with a plea bargain there is no jury
nor trial. In 1998, a study conducted within the province of Ontario concluded that 91.3%
of all criminal cases were resolved without the necessity of a trial 10 The majority of cases
can be resolved with a plea bargain, not only does this save cost but it also saves time
and enables to our court system to take the appropriate time with the remaining 8.7%
of cases that must go to trial.
The public has the right to be concerned with the way our court systems our run,
and even though plea bargaining has its cons Bernardo case, it is an essential tool of the
justice system today. Plea bargains are also essential in the idea that the traumatised
witness is able to avoid testimony and any disturbance to their personal such as the
Whitmore case. Not only do plea bargains contribute to the efficiency of the criminal
justice system, but they reduce the cost of the operation of the trial ,and reduce the
prosecutors workload. At the end of the day the pros outweigh the cons and plea
7
8
9
10

http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/abt-apd/icg-gci/pb-rpc/pb-rpc.pdf
http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/abt-apd/icg-gci/pb-rpc/pb-rpc.pdf
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/05/03/canadas-courts-are-choking-on-an-increase-in-evidence/
http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/abt-apd/icg-gci/pb-rpc/pb-rpc.pdf

bargains remain an effective tool in the insurance of keeping society a safe place.

Works Cited

3. Key events in the Bernardo/Homolka case Last Updated: Thursday, June 17, 2010 | 10:05 am
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2010/06/16/f-bernardo-homolka-timeline.html
4.http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?
sgHitCountType=None&sort=DASORT&inPS=true&prodId=AONE&userGroupName=ko_k1
2hs_d21&tabID=T003&searchId=R4&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&sear
chType=AdvancedSearchForm&currentPosition=6&contentSet=GALE
%7CA17987046&&docId=GALE|A17987046&docType=GALE&role=
5. "A fine balance." Maclean's 6 Aug. 2007: 10. Academic OneFile. Web. 3 June 2013.
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE
%7CA167346140&v=2.1&u=ko_k12hs_d21&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w
6 "A fine balance." Maclean's 6 Aug. 2007: 10. Academic OneFile. Web. 3 June 2013.
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE
%7CA167346140&v=2.1&u=ko_k12hs_d21&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w
7 PLEA BARGAINING ,Milica Potrebic Piccinato, The International Cooperation Group
Department of Justice of Canada 2004 More precisely : $58.91 billion (Canadian dollars)
Department of Justice of Canada, Research and Statistics Division, JustStats (No.2002-01),
October 2002. http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/abt-apd/icg-gci/pb-rpc/pb-rpc.pdf
8 PLEA BARGAINING ,Milica Potrebic Piccinato, The International Cooperation Group
Department of Justice of Canada 2004 9 More exactly : $11.97 billion.
Department of Justice of Canada, Research and Statistics Division, JustStats (No.2002-01),
October 2002. http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/abt-apd/icg-gci/pb-rpc/pb-rpc.pdf
9 The system is sick: Canadas courts are choking on an increase in evidence ADRIAN
HUMPHREYS | 13/05/03 | Last Updated: 13/05/06 1:28 PM The National Post.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/05/03/canadas-courts-are-choking-on-an-increase-inevidence/
10 PLEA BARGAINING ,Milica Potrebic Piccinato, The International Cooperation Group

Department of Justice of Canada 2004 The 91.3% figure includes all charges that are
resolved by guilty pleas or withdrawn by the prosecutor.(See The Commission on Proceedings
Involving Guy Paul Morin, Testimony of Peter Griffiths relating to Exhibit 292, Statistical
Monitoring Report of Ontario Court, Provincial Division,12 December 1997,available on Quick
Law in database "CRCM".) Of the 91.3% of cases, 75.5% were resolved beforetrial, while the
other 15.8% remained unresolved until the day set for trial. (See The Investment Strategy
Report, Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General, Third Quarter of 1998, referred to in
theReport of the Criminal Justice Review Committee, February 1999, Chapter 6, Part 4,
available on Quick Law in database "CRCM".) http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/abt-apd/icg-gci/pbrpc/pb-rpc.pdf

(http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/plea%2Bbargaining?q=plea+bargaining)
(http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/pi/rs/rep-rap/2002/rr02_5/p3.html)
(http://www.victimsofviolence.on.ca/rev2/index.php?
option=com_content&task=view&id=378&Itemid=197)
(http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/story/2007/07/18/whitmore-deal.html)
(http://resources.lawinfo.com/en/articles/criminal-law/federal/the-pros-and-cons-of-pleabargaining.html)
http://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/regulation/2003/10/v26n3-7.pdf

http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1023&context=mulr_conferences