By T. Chris

According to a recent study, the percentage of federal criminal prosecutions resolved by trial has declined from 15 percent in 1962 to less than 5 percent last year. Although the number of federal prosecutions has doubled in the last four decades, the number of trials has fallen.

The impact of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which reward most guilty pleas with an automatic reduction of the sentencing range a defendant would have faced if convicted at trial, explains the shrinking numbers.

On the criminal side, there is almost no dispute that the falling number of trials in the federal courts is because of the revisions in sentencing laws. Defendants who insist on a trial can face much longer sentences than those who accept a plea bargain.

From the government's perspective, the guidelines reward a defendant who accepts responsibility by pleading guilty. From the defense perspective, however, the guidelines penalize a defendant who unsuccessfully exercises his or her right to a jury trial. Defendants who face the certainty of a longer sentence if found guilty at trial are often understandably discouraged from leaving their fate to a jury.