Plea Bargaining - A deal with devils?

Hi everyone,

You may have heard of the Karla Homolka-Paul Bernardo case in Canada. If you haven't, I'll just give a brief outline of the case:

Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka were a married couple who tortured, raped and brutally murdered three young girls (including Tammy, who was Karla's 15 year old sister).

Bernardo was also involved in other rapes before - he was nicknamed the "Scarborough Rapist".

Karla agreed to testify against Bernardo, saying that she herself was a victim and was forced to participate in these crimes, which Bernardo used to videotape.

The lawyers made a plea bargain to reduce her sentence if she testified against her husband.

Later on, it was found out that some evidence had been hidden from the court. The police found Bernardo's videotapes hidden in the house bathroom.

From the tapes, it was very clear that Karla was NOT a victim. She also enjoyed committing the crimes.

But, as the Crown had already made a deal with her, they could not back out of it. Also, Bernardo was the one who had killed the girls and disposed of the bodies, not Karla.

The media called this the "Deal with the Devil". Karla Homolka was recently released after serving her sentence and now lives in Montreal (Quebec) under another name.

Bernardo got a life sentence since there is no capital punishment (death penalty) in Canada.

What on earth is a Plea Bargain?

In simplest terms, it is a "bargain" or a deal between the Public Prosecutor/District Attorney/Crown Attorney and the Defendant in a criminal trial.

The catch is that if the Defendant pleads guilty, he/she gets fewer years in prison or a lighter punishment.

On the one hand, Plea Bargaining reduces the cost of criminal trials by speeding up the process.

On the other hand, "monsters" like Karla Homolka do not get just retribution for their crimes.

What is your opinion on plea bargaining? Should it be allowed in the legal system? Why or why not?

Very interesting post !! I have some how heard of plea bargain because i love watching "Law and Order ", CSI and reading Courtroom dramas . Although the cases are fictional , it gives you an idea as when does plea bargain get offered and why !!

There are situations when the police are still looking for more information that would save a life / lives or will bring closure to a case . Also if there were more people involved in the crime , so to get the criminal to squeal out other names. These are some of the situations when plea bargain seems justified . For a bigger gain , one has to let go of a smaller gain !!

In this case it may have seemed that Karla H didn't get what she deserved ...........a longer and tougher sentence . But in other cases plea bargain has proved to be more benefical .

Well i hope Karla will answer in Gods house later and will get what she deserves !!

Great topic!

But personally, in my own opinion, I say forget about who should give who punishment and what should or should have been done. I am not a big fan of the Law and that's why whether or not Karal. H get's plea bargin or not...bottom line, she's going straight to hell anyways. I don't mean to sound cheesy, but who are we (public) or criminal law to punish her, God himself is gonna punish her and give her a one-way ticket to hell. 😡

Bumping. What do our new members have to say about this?

What is your opinion on plea bargaining? Should it be allowed in the legal system? Why or why not?

I don't think we can afford to reject the notion of plea bargains because of possibility of a sloppy investigation. It's not practical.
While I agree most of times defendants' have more incentives to accept plea bargains, I would still go with the prosecutors' instinct on a particular case to offer the plea bargain. After all they are the ones who are prosecuting case and know the most about it so when they decide to enter into a plea bargain I hardly have any opposition unless of course I am much more involved and aware of the particular case and know more than the investigators. Also remember it's not only between defense and prosecution, a judge's approval is must in any plea bargain before it gets finalized. And at least here in US all the chief law enforcement officers of all states, i.e. Attorney Generals of every state, who have the final authorities in every prosecution, are publicly elected and appointed.

I too am a big Law and Order fan and from what i have seen , I def feel plea bargains is a must for the prosecutors to get the bigger fish or the main accused . In every profession , there are people who would take advantage of any loophole they could find and thats exactly what Karla did . In law esl there are many loopholes that could be played with and thats the fact and some people take advantage of it to gain something to escape with a lesser punishment .

Although Plea bargains are given only to catch the main culprit or to get more info on the case or to implicate the main culprit , its a fact that it could be taken advantage of by some . So , plea bargains is unavoidable and so is such loopholes that come with it .

Upon new evidence being provided by the police, she should have been convicted again as a criminal guided by her own devil intentions, rather than her husband's. Though Karla gets the benefit of plea, and is free to go as charges are dropped in the previous case, she should be charged GUILTY and imprisoned for life as an EQUAL & INTENTIONAL CRIMINAL in the light of new evidence.

I don't know if this is logical at all, but it is mho. It is very wrong that people like Karla can get away just for pleading. There has to be a way to catch them back and send them back where they belong.

Originally posted by: T.

Hi everyone,

You may have heard of the Karla Homolka-Paul Bernardo case in Canada. If you haven't, I'll just give a brief outline of the case:

Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka were a married couple who tortured, raped and brutally murdered three young girls (including Tammy, who was Karla's 15 year old sister).

Bernardo was also involved in other rapes before - he was nicknamed the "Scarborough Rapist".

Karla agreed to testify against Bernardo, saying that she herself was a victim and was forced to participate in these crimes, which Bernardo used to videotape.

The lawyers made a plea bargain to reduce her sentence if she testified against her husband.

Later on, it was found out that some evidence had been hidden from the court. The police found Bernardo's videotapes hidden in the house bathroom.

From the tapes, it was very clear that Karla was NOT a victim. She also enjoyed committing the crimes.

But, as the Crown had already made a deal with her, they could not back out of it. Also, Bernardo was the one who had killed the girls and disposed of the bodies, not Karla.

The media called this the "Deal with the Devil". Karla Homolka was recently released after serving her sentence and now lives in Montreal (Quebec) under another name.

Bernardo got a life sentence since there is no capital punishment (death penalty) in Canada.

What on earth is a Plea Bargain?

In simplest terms, it is a "bargain" or a deal between the Public Prosecutor/District Attorney/Crown Attorney and the Defendant in a criminal trial.

The catch is that if the Defendant pleads guilty, he/she gets fewer years in prison or a lighter punishment.

On the one hand, Plea Bargaining reduces the cost of criminal trials by speeding up the process.

On the other hand, "monsters" like Karla Homolka do not get just retribution for their crimes.

What is your opinion on plea bargaining? Should it be allowed in the legal system? Why or why not?

Since the whole judiciary is based on evidence there is always a x% error involved in judgement.. By plea bargain all the system does is to speed up this process and reduce the cost.... All western judiciary systems are screwed up and generally play upon this x%. So is these judiciary systems you can be convicted for something you never did in exchange for a plea.... This judiciary is screwed up totally....The better the lawyer the better the chances of reducing the punishment....🤢