In the immediate wake of the Daniel Shaver shooting in Arizona, many Floridians are left confused and distraught; however, there is one aspect that is certain: police brutality is still a tremendous issue in America today. Unfortunately, there are countless who suffer at the hands of law enforcement, never to see justice served.
Understanding plea bargaining
When defendants set out to argue their criminal cases in a Jacksonville courtroom, they typically do so with the ultimate goal of gaining an acquittal and/or an exoneration. However, somewhere along the pathway to completing this process, that goal may shift to earning the most favorable outcome that is possible. To do that, one may have to give some serious thought to plea bargaining. Such agreements are much more common in the American criminal justice system than most may think. According to information shared by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, of the 48,939 criminal offense cases heard in America's largest 75 counties in 2009, 53 percent of felony cases ended in pleas.