Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-21T22:27:21.846Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Pleading Guilty: A Voluntary or Coerced Decision?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2019

Chloé Leclerc Open the ORCID record for Chloé Leclerc [Opens in a new window]  and
Elsa Euvrard
Chloé Leclerc
Affiliation:
Université de Montréal, Criminologie, Montréal chloe.leclerc@umontreal.ca
Elsa Euvrard
Affiliation:
Université Laval, École de travail social et de criminologie, Québec elsa.euvrard@umontreal.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The empirical literature on plea decisions shows that rational motives and coercion may coexist, but there is uncertainty with regard to whether accused feel that their decision is voluntary or made under considerable pressure. However, in most jurisdictions, the legitimacy of the plea bargaining process rests on the Court’s obligation to ensure that the guilty plea is entered voluntarily and knowingly. This study proposes to understand how the accused interpret the rational or coercive elements of their decision-making process and the extent to which their decision to plead guilty is voluntary. Based on semi-structured interviews with twenty convicted individuals, we describe the different decision-making processes, from free and informed decisions to forced decisions to plead guilty while innocent.

Résumé

La littérature empirique montre que les motifs rationnels et la coercition peuvent coexister dans les décisions relatives à un plaidoyer de culpabilité. Une confusion persiste toutefois à savoir si l’accusé estime que sa décision a été prise volontairement ou si celle-ci résulte de pressions considérables. Néanmoins, dans la plupart des juridictions, la légitimité du processus de négociation de plaidoyer repose sur l’obligation des tribunaux à veiller à ce que le plaidoyer soit enregistré volontairement et avec une compréhension de la nature de l’accusation. Cette étude propose d’analyser la manière dont les accusés interprètent les éléments rationnels ou coercitifs de leur processus décisionnel et dans quelle mesure leur décision d’enregistrer un plaidoyer de culpabilité constitue une décision volontaire. Sur la base d’entretiens semi-structurés conduits auprès de vingt personnes condamnées, les résultats présentés décrivent les différents processus de prise de décision, et ce, de la décision libre et éclairée jusqu’à la décision forcée d’une personne innocente qui est contrainte d’enregistrer un plaidoyer de culpabilité.

Keywords

plea bargainingsentencingnegotiationsinnocentcoercionnégociation de plaidoyersentencingnégociationinnocencecoercition
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal of Law and Society / La Revue Canadienne Droit et Société , Volume 34 , Issue 3 , December 2019 , pp. 457 - 478
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Law and Society Association / Association Canadienne Droit et Société 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References

Auerhahn, Kathleen. 2012. ‘Social control of the self’ and pleading guilty in criminal court. International Review of Sociology 22 (2): 95–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baldwin, John, and McConville, Michael. 1977. Negotiated justice: Pressures to plead guilty. London: Martin Robertson.Google Scholar
Bibas, S. 2004. Plea bargaining outside the shadow of trial. Harvard Law Review 117 (8): 2463–2547.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bordens, Kenneth S., and Bassett, John. 1985. The plea bargaining process from the defendant’s perspective: A field investigation. Basic and Applied Social Psychology 6 (2): 93–110. doi:10.1207/s15324834basp0602_1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowers, J. 2008. Punishing the Innocent. University of Pennsylvania Law Review 156 (5): 1117–80.Google Scholar
Brockman, Joan. 2010. An offer you can’t refuse: Pleading guilty when innocent. Criminal Law Quarterly 56: 116–134.Google Scholar
Brunk, Conrad G. 1979. The problem of voluntariness and coercion in the negotiated plea. Law and Society Review 13 (2): 527–553.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bushway, Shawn D., and Redlich, Allison D.. 2012. Is plea bargaining in the “shadow of the trial” a mirage? Journal of Quantitative Criminology 28 (3): 437–454. doi:10.1007/s10940-011-9147-5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, Julian A. III 2001. Federal guilty pleas under rule 11: The unfulfilled promise of the post-Boykin era. Notre Dame Law Review 77: 597–640.Google Scholar
Emmelman, Debra S. 1996. Trial by plea bargain: Case settlement as a product of recursive decision-making. Law and Society Review 30 (2): 335–360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ericson, Richard. V., and Baranek, Patricia M.. 1982. The ordering of justice: A study of accused persons as dependants in the criminal process. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Euvrard, Elsa, and Leclerc, Chloé. 2015. Les rapports de force lors des négociations des plaidoyers de culpabilité. Analyse du point de vue des avocats de la défense. Criminologie 48 (1): 191–213. https://doi.org/10.7202/1029354arCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Euvrard, Elsa, and Leclerc, Chloé. 2017. Pre-trial detention and guilty pleas: Inducement or coercion? Punishment and Society 19 (5): 525–542. https://doi.org/10.1177/1462474516670153CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feeley, Malcolm. 1979. The process is the punishment. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Ferguson, Gerard A., and Roberts, Darrell W.. 1974. Plea bargaining: directions for Canadian reform. Canadian Bar Review 52: 497–576.Google Scholar
Glaser, Barney G., and Strauss, Anselm A.. 1967. The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. New York: Aldine Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Gravel, S. 1991. La négociation des plaidoyers de culpabilité : Une pratique hétérogène. Criminologie 24 (2): 5–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hussemann, Jeanette M. 2013. Negotiating justice: Defendant perspectives of plea bargaining in American criminal courts. Doctoral thesis, University of Minnesota.Google Scholar
Ireland, David. 2014. Bargaining for expedience? The overuse of joint recommendations on sentence. Winnipeg (Canada): Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Law, University of Winnipeg.Google Scholar
Kellough, Gail, and Wortley, Scot. 2002. Remand for plea. Bail decisions and plea bargaining as commensurate decisions. British Journal of Criminology 42 (1): 186–210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klein, John F. 1976. Let’s Make a Deal. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.Google Scholar
Lippke, Richard L. 2011. The ethics of plea bargaining. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manikis, Marie, and Grbac, Peter. 2017. Bargaining for justice: the road towards prosecutorial accountability in the plea bargaining process. Manitoba Law Journal (Robson Crim) 40 (3): 85–110.Google Scholar
Martin Report. 1993. Report of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee on Charge Screening, Disclosure and Resolution Discussions. Ontario: Attorney General.Google Scholar
McConville, Michael, Hodgson, Jacqueline, Bridges, Lee, and Pavlovic, Anita. 1994. Standing accused: The organisation and practices of criminal defence lawyers in Britain. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nasheri, Hedieh. 1998. Betrayal of due process: A comparative assessment of plea bargaining in the United States and Canada. University Press of America.Google Scholar
Poirier, Robert. 1987. La négociation des sentences du point de vue des avocats de la défense. Criminologie 20 (2) : 57–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piccinato, Milica P. 2004. La reconnaissance préalable de culpabilité. Ministère de la Justice du Canada : Groupe de La Coopération Internationale.Google Scholar
Redlich, Allison D., Summers, Alicia, and Hoover, Steven. 2010. Self-reported false confessions and false guilty pleas among offenders with mental illness. Law and Human Behaviour 34 (1): 79–90. doi:10.1007/s10979-009-9194-8CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Redlich, Allison D., and Summers, Alicia. 2012. Voluntary, knowing, and intelligent pleas: Understanding the plea inquiry. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law 18 (4): 626–643. doi:10.1037/a0026066CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Douglas A. 1986. The plea bargain controversy. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 77: 949–968.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verdun-Jones, Simon N., and Tijerino, Adamira A.. 2002. Victim Participation in the plea negotiation process in Canada: A Review of the literature and four models for law reform. Ottawa, Canada: Justice Canada.Google Scholar
Weitzer, Ronald. 1996. Racial discrimination in the criminal justice system: Findings and problems in the literature. Journal of Criminal Justice 24 (4): 309–322.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Criminal Code, RSC, 1985, c C-46.Google Scholar
R v Anthony-Cook, 2016 SCC 43, [2016] 2 SCR 204.Google Scholar
R v Babos, 2014 SCC 16, [2014] 1 SCR 309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
R v Downes, 2012 ONCJ 45. 99 WCB (2d) 396.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
R v Moser, 2002 ONSC, 163 CCC (3d) 286.Google Scholar
R v Smoke, 2017 SKQB 345. 142 WCB (2d) 866.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
R v Symonds, 2018 NSCA 34 147 WCB (2d) 563.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
R v Wong, 2018 SCC 25, [2018] 1 SCR 696.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Criminal Code, RSC, 1985, c C-46.Google Scholar
R v Anthony-Cook, 2016 SCC 43, [2016] 2 SCR 204.Google Scholar
R v Babos, 2014 SCC 16, [2014] 1 SCR 309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
R v Downes, 2012 ONCJ 45. 99 WCB (2d) 396.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
R v Moser, 2002 ONSC, 163 CCC (3d) 286.Google Scholar
R v Smoke, 2017 SKQB 345. 142 WCB (2d) 866.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
R v Symonds, 2018 NSCA 34 147 WCB (2d) 563.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
R v Wong, 2018 SCC 25, [2018] 1 SCR 696.CrossRefGoogle Scholar