Enter your charges and the DA's plea offer. We will calculate the trial penalty and identify red flags that suggest coercion or weak evidence.
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Add each charge the DA has filed against you. Select the Penal Code section and click "Add Charge."
Enter the details of what the DA is offering you in the plea deal.
The system is designed to make trial too risky. Here is the data.
The average federal trial penalty is a sentence 3 times longer than what was offered in a plea deal. A 2018 NACDL study found that after trial, defendants received sentences 64% longer on average.
Studies in California show defendants who reject plea deals and go to trial receive sentences 2 to 6 times longer than the original plea offer, depending on charge severity and county.
DAs routinely file multiple overlapping charges for a single incident to inflate the maximum possible sentence. This artificially increases the trial penalty and makes the plea deal look like a bargain. The more counts filed, the greater the coercive pressure.
Prosecutors add sentencing enhancements (GBI, firearm use, gang allegations) that can add 3 to 25 years on top of the base sentence. These are often the first thing "offered" to be dropped in exchange for a plea, suggesting they were never strong charges to begin with.
The Sixth Amendment guarantees your right to a jury trial. Yet the trial penalty system effectively punishes people for exercising this right. The Supreme Court has acknowledged that plea bargaining is "not some adjunct to the criminal justice system; it is the criminal justice system."
If a plea deal requires admitting a strike offense, it can double your sentence on any future felony conviction. A third strike can mean 25 years to life. Always understand the long-term consequences of what you are admitting to.
This tool is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Sentencing ranges shown are statutory maximums and do not account for judicial discretion, sentencing guidelines, credits, or case-specific factors. Always consult with a qualified criminal defense attorney before making any decisions about a plea deal. Every case is different, and your attorney can evaluate the strength of the evidence, the likelihood of conviction, and the specific risks you face at trial. Do not rely solely on this tool to make legal decisions.
A plea deal is a permanent criminal conviction entered by agreement — you plead guilty or no-contest to one or more charges in exchange for the DA reducing other charges, recommending a lower sentence, or both. Unlike a trial verdict, you waive your right to jury, to cross-examine witnesses, and to appeal most issues.
Never without full discovery, full investigation, and a sober comparison to realistic trial outcomes. The DA's offer is always compared to their worst credible trial result, not their charge sheet. If your attorney is pushing a plea without investigating your case, file a Marsden motion. Over 90% of California cases plea — that is not evidence the system is fair, it's evidence the pressure works.
A felony plea affects: immigration (deportation for non-citizens — Padilla v. Kentucky requires your attorney warn you); firearm rights (lifetime ban federally); custody (family-court consequences); employment (professional licenses, background checks); housing (many landlords reject felons); voting (restored after release in CA but still complicated); three-strikes (serious/violent felony becomes a strike). Any of these can outweigh the nominal sentence.