Prosecution's Power, Procedural Rights, and Pleading Guilty: The Problem of Coercion in Plea Bargaining Drug Cases

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Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to identify and understand the significance of several elements of plea bargaining, particularly the sensitive areas between legal coercion and the defendant's voluntary cooperation. The data consist of a representative transcript of the plea negotiations of a defendant charged with attempting to sell drugs. Portions of the transcript (printed here) illustrate the interaction between defendant, defense attorney, federal prosecutor and drug enforcement officer. In this case, police and legal tactics were successful in gaining the defendant's cooperation and at the same time were conducted within constitutional limitations.