Number of words: 100

If the prosecutor, having charged a capital crime, is nevertheless willing top accept a plea of guilty to a lesser offense, then the defendant has in turn the choice of accepting or rejecting this offer. This dreadful choice has to be made by a man in custody, often disoriented and frightened , and hence dependant upon advice, susceptible to following possibly bad advice; at this point, then, the choice is partly or wholly made by the lawyer’s decision is often a difficult one.(The “plea bargain” will be more fully explained in Chapter5)m,

Excerpted from “Capital Punishment” by Charles Black Jr..