Can someone explain to me fully plea bargaining in exchange for testimony?

Question

I know this:

It's when the courts strike a deal with someone to give testimony, or else suffer a bigger sentence. Part of this is that the court won't have to go through a trial.

But isn't the court going through a trial during the plea bargaining process?

Answer 1

No; plea bargaining occurs before the trial, in some ways to avoid the costs and time of a trial. Usually, a persecutor will offer a lighter sentence in exchange for testimony for another case that might be associated with his crime.

Think of logic as letting a little fish go (or giving it a longer leash) in exchange for a better chance of getting the big fish. But I don't like fish.

Answer 2

Plea bargaining helps the defense team get valuable information for prosecution of other criminals. An example of how this wouldn't work is if you got drug dealer information from an informant. The informant is being held as a witness and in order for him or her to get free, they will need to turn in the head of the drug dealer. Sometimes in their zest for freedom they elaborate on the facts and implicate other people not involved at all. That is the problem with plea bargaining, you are usually taking the word of truth from a criminal. And we know how that usually turns out.

Answer 3

you can actually enter a plea bargain before the actual trial. if you plea bargain in exchange for testimony, then you plead guilty, get a light sentence and then have to tell everything you know about the other person and their part in the crime.

Answer 4

Not necessarily a trial but making a decision as to who they want to send to prison. In the case of OJ for example, they decided that he was more guilty than the people he recruited to commit the crime of robbery so they are giving them immunity in order to convict OJ, supposedly the one who instigated the crime.