A guy is on trial for murder. The prosecution offers to settle for a plea bargain of disorderly conduct. The defendant turns it down, insisting on complete dismissal of all charges.
Is the defendant allowed to tell the jury that the prosecution made this offer, and that the fact that they would offer such a favorable plea deal shows that the prosecution itself realizes how flimsy the evidence is? Or is this information privileged and/or prejudicial?
Of course, the same question would also apply to offer by the defense. And to offer by either the plaintiff or defendant in a civil trial.
The rule does not apply if it’s the defendant seeking to use the plea bargain in his case. This would of course grant the prosecutor the right to use other components of the plea bargain.
The rules of evidence are governed by state law unless the trial is in federal court, in which case it is governed by the Federal Rules of Evidence. Superimposed upon (or incorporated into) both laws are various constitutional requirements.
I don’t think the inadmissibility of plea bargain discussions is a constitutional requirement, just a policy one. Both the state and federal rules exclude some relevant evidence in order to further various policy ends. Settlement negotiations, including plea bargains, are typically excluded because the legal system wants to encourage settlement.
As pravnik cited, the federal rules state that the prosecution cannot introduce it against the defendant. But I don’t know if the federal rules specifically address whether the defendant can introduce it as evidence of his innocence. In the absence of a specific rule, I suppose a judge would have to decide whether the evidence is relevant. I think you’d have a hard time convincing a judge that a defendant’s refusal to plea bargain is evidence of innocence–and a judge would be unlikely to make that ruling since it would discourage plea bargains.
I thought about that after I posted; the hypo has the defendant using the plea negotiation rather than the state. Still, the defendant can’t use the mere existence of a prior plea offer made by a DA to show the weakness of the state’s case; it wouldn’t be relevant.
