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Abstract
When is Plea Bargaining Justified?
Recent trials in New South Wales, in which several youths agreed to plead "guilty"
to charges of rape in return for the Crown Prosecutor agreeing to withhold aggravating
facts from the judge when addressing the court on sentencing, resulted in the
accused receiving relatively minor sentences of imprisonment. This form of plea
bargaining is condemned on the basis that there can be no mitigating circumstances
in the crime of rape. It is submitted that the prosecution, by withholding evidence
critical on sentencing, deceived the court and was particeps criminis.
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