Federal Pleas and Jury Trials in the Western District

Looking at the latest numbers available (Statistical Information Packet, 2008), it is interesting to note that in 2008 there 76,427 total convictions in the federal system.  Of those, 96.3% of defendants pled guilty and only 3.7% took their case to trial.

Even more interesting is that in the Western District of Texas, there were a total of 7,232 convictions.  Of those, 98.7% pled guilty and a mere 1.3% went to trial.

By comparison, in Texas state court 97.3% of felony convictions were the result of a guilty plea and 2.7% of convictions resulted from a trial. 

So why aren’t more federal defendants in this part of Texas going to trial? 

It can’t be because the prosecutors are recommending lower sentences, because they aren’t.  In fact, given that in almost all cases the judges of the Western District sentenced lower than the national average, maybe losing that “acceptance of responsibility” reduction isn’t that big of a deal!

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