Over 94 percent of felony convictions result from guilty pleas, not trials

Evidence

It is a striking fact that trials, as described above and as the public knows them, are not the usual way a defendant’s fate is decided. Most men and women behind bars did not get there because a judge or jury put them there. They got there because they pleaded guilty. Overwhelmingly, this is the case. For the year 2006, only 4 percent of the men and women convicted of felonies in state courts got to that unhappy destination by way of a jury trial. Another 2 percent were convicted at a bench trial, and 94 percent pleaded guilty. In federal courts, the numbers are even more lopsided: more than 97 percent of people convicted of felonies pleaded guilty. The courtroom drama that plays out in the movies remains a fiction for most criminal defendants; their fate is dictated behind closed doors. — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law, 844

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to prior highlight on plea bargaining’s dominance (ch28 settlement discussion) and Chapter 50’s unreported crime rates. — connects to: Guilty pleas, not trials, now dominate criminal case disposition; Guilty pleas dominate criminal case disposition overwhelmingly — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law: A Definitive Look at…, 547
• recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source

Broader Connections

• Guilty pleas, not trials, now dominate criminal case disposition #corroborates (0.95)
• Guilty pleas dominate criminal case disposition overwhelmingly #corroborates (0.93) — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 547