What is a plea bargain and what is it good for

A plea bargain is any agreement in a criminal case between the prosecutor and defendant where the defendant agrees to plead guilty to a particular charge in return for some concession from the prosecutor

Trials are expensive for a state or locality. Plea bargains avoid the time and expense of a full jury trial. In a plea bargain, a person charged with an offense may agree to plead guilty to a lesser offense. The attorneys for the defense and the prosecuting attorneys determine what the lesser offense is.