Police Participation in Structured Plea Negotiations

• NCJ Number: 78327
• Journal: Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 9 Issue: 2 Dated: (1981) Pages: 151-164
• Author(s): W A Kerstetter
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 14 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ); US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article examines in detail the police participation in the pretrial settlement conferences that were held over a 1-year period in Miami, Fla.

Abstract

A field experiment design was used in the evaluation. A total of 1,074 cases were randomly selected, of which 378 were assigned to a test group. For the test group cases, a pretrial conference was available. The remainder were assigned to four control groups. The data presented in this paper were gathered from four different sources; court records; staff observations of the conference; structured interviews with victims, defendants, and police officers; and open-ended interviews with the judges and attorneys involved in the conference. Three Dade County Criminal Division judges (test judges) agreed to take part in the conference. Three others agreed to have a random sample of their cases used as control cases. A total of 287 conferences were held, and 383 police officers were interviewed. The article discusses the extent of use, the structure of the conference discussion, and its influence on the settlement decision. Analysis showed that police presence at the conferences resulted in increased police participation in disposition discussions and influence in the settlement reached. Police presence reduced the dominance of the judge in the conference and appeared to modify the judge's role by making him/her more of a participant in a dialogue. The prosecutor's role increased with police presence, and prosecutors may have adopted a slightly more aggressive stance on dispositions. However, the defense counsel lost some influence when the police were present. The role and influence of the defendant and victim were not significantly affected by the police presence. In addition, the police attendance did not affect the processing (settlement/trial rate) or the disposition (sentence severity, use of incarceration, or restitution). Officers who attended conferences were substantially more knowledgeable about the outcome of the case and more satisfied with both the court process and the disposition than those officers who did not attend. Tables, footnotes, and seven references are included.