plea bargaining 
noun [mass noun] Law
An arrangement between prosecutor and defendant whereby the defendant pleads guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for a more lenient sentence or an agreement to drop other charges.The guilty plea procedure is sometimes the result of plea-bargaining between the prosecution and defence counsel....
- We have people who are so overwhelmed that they have to reduce the sentences by plea-bargaining.
- Pilot schemes saw several benefits, including a reduction in plea-bargaining and downgrading of charges, and an increase in early guilty pleas.
Derivatives
plea-bargain
- If I'd been a habitual offender - the kind of driver for whom traffic court was designed - I probably wouldn't have gotten to plea-bargain.
- By the time Jesse came to plea-bargain, the jury already knew his father had confessed to it and he had no supporting witnesses.
- They plea-bargained for the easy, cheaper option.
plea bargain
- At the time of the appellants' trial, negotiations for a plea bargain were well advanced but not complete.
- The consequences of the plea bargain were borne entirely by the defendant, but the trial threatened disaster for the lawyer.
- They decide whether to take a case to trial or to offer a plea bargain to avoid trial.