This involves plea negotiation or out-of-court settlement.

Plea bargaining is a form of judicial settlement, but it is essentially the same as an ordinary contract, where the parties bargain and then exchange promises.

Just like leasing, contracting, financing, etc., but the interests are different.

In plea negotiations, the defendant waives his constitutional right to a jury trial in exchange for a relatively light sentence.

Sometimes the stakes are greater: a defendant who could be sentenced to death can use this kind of bargaining allowed by law to save his life for his heinous crimes—such as a serial killer promising to confess more of the case and where the body was buried in exchange for avoiding death.

An out-of-court deal, or plea agreement, is reminiscent of a contract between Faust and the devil, except that the former is perfectly legal, and the court will enforce it.

In theory, there is no justification for people to bargain over constitutional rights.

In practice, no court would tolerate a prosecutor asking a defendant to offer money in exchange for his rights.

Imagine a price marked in front of the court:

The defendant voluntarily waives the right to counsel - $100;

The defendant voluntarily waived the right not to allow self-incrimination - $200;

The defendant voluntarily waived the jury trial - $500.

Isn't that a mess?

But the Federal Supreme Court approved, precisely, encouraging prosecutors to offer defendants a higher value than money, that is, to exchange the defendant's freedom for his natural constitutional rights.

It sounds ridiculous, but in reality it is a last resort, and a plea agreement can greatly reduce the cost of justice, and it is a practical solution for a country like the United States, which is based on court files, although it sounds a bit against the spirit of the constitution and human rights.

Solomon told Hines that in return and reward for his hard work, the bribery charge would be sent to the state court, as they knew it was the main thing.

Hines didn't have time to say thank you.

Solomon also said that Hines, as a local prosecutor, was more suitable than a federal prosecutor to coordinate the judges' affairs.

After this kind of method and method were applied, Hines was so pinched that he could only nod his head and agree.

At this point, Bergman's fate was completely out of his control.

……

"Miss Ruthberg, I think it's imperative that an appeal be filed." In his office, Edward said.

"Bergman's case is very special in that it involves both state and federal courts, and technically we have to appeal at the same time, and then focus on the state justice system."

Edward's words seemed very sincere, after all, the other party was a beautiful female teacher, and he couldn't show his attitude towards Hansen or Fericht.

He thought about it very well, he had done everything he could do before, and now he can only file an appeal, but he can't let himself write the complaint, after all, he is not even qualified to practice.

As long as Rustberg starts writing pleadings, he will be much more relaxed, at most helping to check the legal text or check some facts.

"Very well, you think the same as I do, so, you go and draft the appeal paper." Ruth Berg said

"No, no...... This, this ......" Edward said in his heart, eldest sister, you can't use people to death.

"By the way, I still have to go to the courthouse and go through the judicial process to ask them to suspend the arrest of Bergman, so, so, the time is ......."

"It's an assignment for you, no matter what, you have to write the appeal paper, and you don't have to worry about whether or not to use the one you wrote. Well, what's the matter. ”

Edward's face turned green, and after thinking about it for a long time, he decided that it was better to tell the truth.

"Miss Ruthberg, I think, I want to quit."

"Oh?" Roseberg raised her eyebrows, and she was neither angry nor shocked at this obviously faux pout, but just turned her head and stared at Edward seriously.

Yes, it was only now that Rustberg had just looked at him for the second time, the first time when Edward entered the room, and the two of them greeted each other.

Edward was a little uncomfortable by the slightly hanging amber eyes, and he subconsciously wanted to touch the zipper of his jeans to see if it was not properly pulled, otherwise the other party would have no reason to stare at him like this.

Rustberg took off her brown-rimmed glasses and leaned half back in the chair, crossed her legs, and folded her hands alternately on her knees.

In the office, she still wears a dark suit, but Edward thinks the dress seems to be shorter than usual, and the flesh-colored stockings cover the slender calves, which reminds him of the famous scene from last year's blockbuster movie.

Roseberg noticed that he had a different vision, and his expression was stunned, and then he pretended to be indifferent, and returned to a precarious posture.

"Ed, can I call you that?"

"Of course, it's my pleasure."

"I know, you have a lot of resentment in your heart, thinking that I am an irresponsible teacher, and I take the case myself but I don't have to be responsible, but I use the students as slaves, right......"

"No, no, absolutely not." Edward's hands were messing around, and he felt a little uncomfortable, but not to this extent, of course, it had nothing to do with things, but with people, and when dealing with Sheldon's case, he wished that his grandfather would die on the spot, and the old rabb's attitude at that time was much better than that of Rushberg.

"So, drink a little?" Ruthberg stood up and walked over to the sideboard, "Sorry, I only have domestic bourbon here......"

Edward rolled his eyes in his heart, "Bourbon? Damn, that corn-stuffed thing has no use other than disinfection, and it's not humane to drink it. ”

But the lips are: "Okay, I like Tennessee whiskey the most, it represents the spirit of the United States, not as delicate as Europe, but vibrant, wild and energetic." ”

"Take," Rustberg handed him a glass of wine, "I didn't think you had a good understanding of wine, I was different, this thing is like a ...... to me Well, stimulants, usually, when you are too tired from work, drink a little, this kind of spicy and stimulating, will quickly make people's brains excited. ”

"In that case, I can recommend the cooling oil to you, the effect is better."

"Cool oil? Can you eat it? What does it taste like? Ruthberg was curious

"No, no, no," Edward's head shook like a rattle, "this is an ointment object, which has a good refreshing effect on both sides of the forehead, and is a specialty of China and Southeast Asia." Similar to peppermint balm, but more punched because it is a compound formula. ”

"Oh, I'll give it a try. Go on, usually alcohol is for refreshment, but today it's not. ”

Edward didn't speak, but took a sip of wine, a sour smell rushing to his head, and his face was silent and deaf.

"Do you know why I chose you as my assistant? The reason is simple, in my opinion, you have the talent to be a good lawyer, shrewd, sharp, able to cut into cases from angles that ordinary people can't think of, and at the same time can notice details that others can't observe. But the more you do that, the more worried I become. ”

"Worried?"

"Yes. I've met quite a few people who are well-versed in the law and good at finding loopholes, but instead of trying to fix them, they use them for their own benefit. ”

"Huh?" Edward muttered to himself, "Isn't that natural? If there is no prohibition in the law, it can be done, and people will not be destroyed for themselves. What's wrong with getting rich without breaking the law? ”

But his face is still respectful.

"Ed, this is wrong!" Rustberg put down her glass, and then wiped her hair, revealing a smooth forehead, the liquor made her cheeks slightly red, as if she had been blushing, a sickly pale.

"We are lawyers, born to uphold legal justice, and if everyone only thinks about exploiting loopholes, the United States will sooner or later become a sin city."

"So, I chose you to be my assistant and give you a lot of tasks, on the one hand, to develop your professional skills, and on the other hand, I hope that you will be like me, and not be one of those vulgar successes, although the latter is very awe-inspiring to the world."

"Uh......" Edward didn't know how to answer.

On the one hand, he was surprised by Rustberg's shrewdness and accurate knowledge of people, the two sides have only known each other for a few days, and they can grasp their psychological activities so accurately, she is not wrong, fishing in troubled waters is Edward's ultimate goal, how to use the law to make money for himself, making a lot of money is the most concerned thing, as for maintaining the dignity of the law.

Hehe, I'm sorry, this should be a matter for Solomon and his ilk, since the federal prosecutors don't care, why do you think so much about an ordinary student?

What's more, I came back by myself, and I don't have any sense of belonging to this country.

Why do you want to be the defender of the bourgeoisie?

If he was facing his grandfather, he would dare to spew out all these words without pulling a word, except for the identity of the traverser.

But in the face of the thin, small, dignified and elegant lady in front of him, he felt ashamed, as if he had been squeezed out of his jeans.

"Ed, we are all Jews, we are all outcasts in this world, and this country is also, from the Mayflower to today, what did it rely on?"

"What the hell? The traditional art of robbing with fire! Edward complained to himself

"It depends on respect and faith in the law...... It is precisely because of the supremacy of the law in this country that we can be a beacon to the whole world. I can't control too much, but as far as I can see, I can't allow this to happen, you know? So I need help, not only to help me fight Bergman's lawsuit, but also to fight with me for the dignity of the Constitution! ”

"Yes, Miss Ruthberg, but I would say that as much as I would love to fight with you, I can't do it alone." Edward seemed very sincere, but in fact he still wanted to slip away.

He can have a good time with his grandfather, because there is enough money to be made together, and it is nothing to work hard.

What is this with Ruthberg?

At the end of the year, the president could not give him one of the "Top Ten Young Men in the Legal Profession of 1968", and then Yale would bring him a big red flower or something.

The point is that this offends people, and it is against all the media.

Eat your fill!

"Don't worry. First of all, I have already written a rough outline of the appeal, and you can expand on it. As for the workload, I can recruit another student and let her be your assistant. ”

"She?!" Edward's acuity came into play again, immediately noticing the point.

"Silaree, how's it going?"

"Huh?"

"She's been in the limelight among students lately because she often talks about her role as an assistant in Sheldon......"

"Hah, oh...... Hmm" Edward didn't know what to say.

It's not a big deal, young man, who doesn't have a little vanity.

But I always feel a little uncomfortable.

"Since you've cooperated, how about I'll put her under your command and let her obey your command?"

"This ......"

"What more help do you want? Tell me and I'll do my best to satisfy you. ”

"I want you to teach me by hand", he didn't dare to say it, just muttered in his heart.

"Then I'll wait for your good news. Okay, I'm going to get back to work. ”

Seeing that the other party had issued an eviction order, Edward could only leave in a gloomy manner.

The heart said what was going on, obviously I was going to quit my errand, but I was poured a belly of patriotic chicken soup, plus an assistant.

But then again, Edward really respects Rustberg from the bottom of his heart this time.

Because she had always opposed Bergman's participation in the "Quadripartite Conference", the three countries were the defendants, the prosecutors, and the courts, and the four parties were the prosecutorial systems and courts at the federal and state levels.

The popularity of out-of-court agreements is largely due to the greed of the defendant's lawyers.

Although the lawyer nominally says that he will fight to the death with the judge and prosecutor for the benefit of the client, in fact, it is often how to make easy money.

At present, most of the fees charged by lawyers in the United States, especially those charged by trial lawyers, are mainly packaged, and how much money to deal with a case is negotiated by both parties in advance, and the scene of "I charge $100 per hour" to clients in film and television dramas is rare in reality.

Either an elite lawyer at the level of a barrister partner, or a docking with corporate clients, or simply providing legal advice, in addition, they are all packaged.

From the lawyer's point of view, how can he reach an out-of-court agreement with the prosecution, then the time he spends on this case will be greatly reduced, although the overall income will remain the same, but the increase in income per hour means that he can save a lot of time to take on other business.

But Lustberg was unusual, and insisted that Bergman not reach any agreement and fight the lawsuit to the end!

This pride and responsibility are revered.

This is also the reason why Edward has a crush on her.

……

That evening, Edward added a lot of things to the outline of the appeal brief that Rustberg had given him, and then found Silaree in the library, gave her a list, and told her to find out all the laws and precedents on the list.

He drove back to New York overnight, and he still had a big question in his mind about why Bergman chose to settle out of court and sign a plea agreement when he was not completely at a disadvantage.