The following is an excerpt from an opinion piece published at cleveland.com on on January 31, 2016.
The “truthful plea agreements” editorial published on cleveland.com Jan. 11 highlighted a real problem in criminal justice.
How do you handle a case when both sides fear that they will lose? What if a defendant maintains his innocence, but faces a trial that may cost him his freedom — for life? What if a prosecutor has a credible accusation — but not enough evidence?
Over the years, judges and lawyers have invented a way to cope. They invented a fiction.