Accepting plea bargains, even when innocent, to avoid the huge expense of defending yourself is the norm.

assimpleaspossi 12 hours ago | parent [-]

Admitting to guilt, even when innocent, is not normal behavior among a normal population. As evidence, the topic of this thread, and probably you and me, and not some unknown elements in a story by NPR.

	▲	macintux 12 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		> Aside from the paltry number of trials in the federal system, states including Pennsylvania, Texas and New York have trial rates of less than 3%. In Santa Cruz County, Ariz., there were no trials from 2010 to 2012, the report said. The numbers are damning. It's simply not possible that police & district attorneys are good enough at their jobs to identify the correct perpetrator with >97% accuracy. Or 100% accuracy in Santa Cruz County.
	▲	Ensorceled 4 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		This is naive. You are arrested for a crime you didn't commit. The prosecution charges you with a serious crime with punishment of years in prison. Your lawyer can't guarantee you'll be found not guilty and you'll be in jail for a least a year until the trial because you can't make bail. The DA then offers a plea bargain to a lessor crime with several months in prison. Lots of innocent people would, and do, plead guilty to the lessor crime.