June 12, 1981

In 1969, Uncle Sam sent me to Chicago (Northwestern University) to further my education.  Not a great time for an Army major to be on a university campus.  I joined up with a bunch of graduate law students to take some courses that would prepare us to defend serious criminal law cases.  Our professor was Bill Martin (he was the lead prosecutor in the Richard Speck case).  Sure, you remember Speck.  He was the one who killed all the Filipino nurses in Chicago.  The jury was out for 32 minutes before coming in with a death sentence.  Anyway, for two hours credit each semester, we defended indigent (no money) clients from the Cook County jail.

One of the things I learned how to do was “deal a case” – to cop a plea, to squeal for a deal, to “plead to a lesser and walk” (you think the Army has buzz words).  What I am trying to say is that I learned how to enter into an agreement with the prosecution so that my client would plead guilty to something (my clients usually were guilty of something) and receive something in return.  Sometimes my client would receive a lesser sentence or, perhaps, probation.

The way it worked in the civilian world (or at least in Chicago) was that the court didn’t start until 10:00 AM, but the prosecutor would be there before nine.  Defense counsels would wait their turn to see him.  I would huddle with the prosecutor in a corner and I would tell him about my case and he would tell me what he had.  We would look at my client’s record and see if we could work out a deal.  If my client had previously been clean, I could usually work something out.  Then I go back to the cage (oh, I’m very sorry – back to the holding cell) and see what my client thought.  If he bought it we were golden because the judge went along with whatever the prosecutor recommended.  If he didn’t the system wouldn’t work.

Boy, I’ve taken a long time to get there.  What I have been getting ready to say for three long paragraphs is we do the same thing in the Army.  Only, I think we do it better.

First, why do we do it?  If a soldier knows he is guilty and knows the prosecutor has the goods on him, why shouldn’t he try to get something for a guilty plea?  On the other hand, it costs time and sometimes big bucks to prosecute a case.  If the Government can save time and money and still be assured a fair sentence for the crime, then what’s the harm?

Here are some of the safeguards the Army has built into the system.  First the offer must be submitted in writing by the accused and his counsel (no hashing it out in the corner of the room).  Second, it has to be approved by the general court-martial convening authority.  That’s the commanding general.  He will look over the offer and decide if it is fair to the Army.  Then, if all agree, the military judge will look the deal over during the trial.  But, he won’t just rubber stamp it.  The judge will satisfy himself that the accused is only pleading guilty to what he really did.  The judge will also make sure that the accused fully understands the terms of the agreement.  Only then will the judge accept the agreement.

So when you read somewhere that the accused pleaded guilty for no apparent reason, the answer most likely is that he had a deal.

Written by PJ Rice on www.ricequips.com