Plea Bargaining and Selection of Jurors - Presentation by Prajwal Bhattarai It is the most common method of resolving cases in the criminal system during pre-trial process.  Plea bargaining has long been central to America’s criminal justice system. The practice of negotiating an agreement between the prosecution and the defense. First of all plea should be request by defendant. Plea should be reasonable and should be voluntary knowing the consequences. Usually it involves sentence reductions, dismissal of other charges, recommendations and so on.

1. Plea Bargaining
and
Selection of Jurors
Name : Prajwal Bhattarai

2. Plea Bargaining
 It is the most common method of resolving cases in the
criminal system
 Plea bargaining has long been central to America’s
criminal justice system.
 The practice of negotiating an agreement between the
prosecution and the defense.
 First of all plea should be request by defendant.
 Plea should be reasonable and should be voluntary
knowing the consequences.
 Usually it involves sentence reductions, dismissal of
other charges, recommendations and so on.
Introduction

3. Plea Bargaining
Legal Provision
 It can be done on three ways:
i. Defendant and Plaintiff agree to permit defendant
to plead guilty. So, Defendant charged with lower
punishment.
ii. Defendant ‘pleads on the nose’ i.e. in presence
accordance to the original charge in the promise.
iii. Defendant pleads guilty in one charge agreeing
plaintiff not to charge in the other country as plaintiff
can drop charge against defendant`s wife.
 There is no provision of Plea bargaining in Nepal.

4. Plea Bargaining
Author's/Scholar's observations
 According to Palermo (1998) states that '' If
all plea bargaining cases where brought to
trial then the amount of time, work and
expenses for the prosecution would increase
greatly ''.
 According to Cohen (1989) states that '' The
public’s suspicion is increased by the way plea
bargaining is conducted in
Hence, the
in plea bargaining ''.

5. Plea Bargaining
Examples / Practices
 Plea bargaining usually depends upon
which extends to determine the crime
with which the defendant is to be charged.
 There are three kinds of plea bargaining on practice.
They are: Charge bargaining, Count bargaining
and Sentence bargaining.
 For Example, , the
prosecutor may charge the suspect with armed
robbery, simple robbery, assault, simple theft, or any
combination of these offenses. All of these offenses
carry different forms of punishment.

6. Plea Bargaining
Conclusion
 Plea bargaining
in the criminal justice system.
 Punishment is not considered due to the
 National Criminal Procedure Act – 2074; Section
123 sub-section 1 (b) - used as plea bargaining in
perverse way.
 Can we accept that individuals who are connected
with serious/heinous crimes such as Rape, Murder,
etc getting away with lighter sentences just because
they have pled guilty to the charges put forward ?????

7. Selection of Jurors
 Jury is a body consisting of a group of people selected as
per law who have been given the authority to decide the
questions of the fact.
 Selection of jurors is the Jury
selection is an challenging process.
 The term Venire is the list of prospective jurors.
 Lawyers and judges select juries by a process known as
‘voir dire’ which is Latin for 'to speak the truth'.
 The jury must reach its verdict by considering only the
Introduction

8. Selection of Jurors
 There is no selection of jurors in judiciary of Nepal.
 The United States Jury Selection and Service Act of
1968, or ‘Jury Act’ which provides the judicial structure
for the selection of United States federal juries.
 Usually there are
 The 12 jury of US is called ‘petit jury’.
 The jury has no role in sentencing. This decision is left
up to the judge following submissions made by both
sides.
Legal Provision

9. Selection of Jurors
 According to Mozley and Whitley ‘Jury
signifies a body of men sworn to
upon
such evidence shall be delivered them’.
 According to Justice Devlin (1905-1992): ‘What
makes juries worthwhile are that
Trial by jury is the
lamp that shows that freedom lives’.
Author's/Scholar's observations

10. Case : People of the State of California
vs.
Orenthal Simpson (October 3, 1995).
 Jury selection and their flaws:
 Jury was formed 2 times after a month. Simpson was black and the victims
were white.
 On the jury team there were: 1 African American Male, 1 Hispanic Male, 8
African American Females and 2 Caucasian Females.
 All 12 were democrats and only two were college graduates. No juror regularly
read a newspaper.
 Two were supervisors. Five had a family member who ran afoul of the law.
 Five thought of physical force on a family member was sometimes acceptable.
 Nine thought O.J. was unlikely to have committed murder because he was such a
great football player. The scientific method weren't followed during investigation.

 No autopsy report including DNA report wasn’t available to jury and the
samples weren't collected separately.

11. Examples / Practices
Trial Jury
 A trial jury, also known as a petit jury, decides whether the
. Trials are generally public, but jury deliberations
are private.
 Defendants have the right to appear, testify, and call witnesses on their behalf.
Grand Jury
 A grand jury is presented with evidence from the attorney, the prosecutor in
federal criminal cases in USA.
 The grand jury determines whether there is to believe the
individual has committed a crime and should be put on trial.
Grand jury proceedings are
 Defendants and their attorneys do not have the right to appear before the
grand jury.

12. Conclusion and Constructive suggestions
 Jurors must remain impartial, non-influencing and independent.
 Jury service is a high duty of citizenship.
 Jurors must also be enough to understand and
apply the judge’s legal instructions.
 As jurors aren't legal experts, they can often with the
volume of information presented to them, leading in many cases
to .
 The issue of the jury competence they should give proper
training, discipline, experience, and superior intelligence.
 They should make able to
drawn from a broad range of levels of intelligence.
 Judges will also dismiss jurors who can’t put aside their feelings
and apply the law impartially i.e. without actual or implied bias.