Race and the Probability of Pleading Guilty

The legal ramifications of pleading guilty and findings of an interdependence between pleading guilty and sentence severity suggest that the guilty plea decision is a significent turning point in case processing. The present research examines the variables affecting the probability of pleading guilt...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of quantitative criminology 1990-09, Vol.6 (3), p.315-334
Main Author: Albonetti, Celesta A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Criminal justice
Criminal pleas
Criminal sentences
Criminal sentencing
Criminology
Defendants
Forensic psychiatry
Guilt
Guilty verdicts
Medical sciences
Minority & ethnic groups
Pleas
Probabilities
Prosecuting attorneys
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Trials
Weapons
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Summary:The legal ramifications of pleading guilty and findings of an interdependence between pleading guilty and sentence severity suggest that the guilty plea decision is a significent turning point in case processing. The present research examines the variables affecting the probability of pleading guilty. The first analysis involves estimating a single probit equation of main effects of variables previously found to be related to pleading guilty. A second analysis is conducted estimating the same equation separately for black defendants and white defendants. Findings from the first part of the analysis indicate that physical evidence, number of charges, and confessing to the crime during police/prosecutor interrogation increase the probability of pleading guilty, whereas the number of witnesses, use of a weapon, and offenses carrying a minimum penalty of 5 years in custody with no maximum prison term decrease the probability of pleading guilty. Findings from the second analysis indicate that the effect of marital status, prior record of felony convictions, type of counsel, number of charges, and use of a weapon on the probability of pleading guilty varies by defendant's race. The research concludes by offering several competing explanations of these findings in hope of stimulating further research on the variables affecting the route of case disposition in felony processing.
ISSN:0748-4518
1573-7799
DOI:10.1007/BF01065413