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Imagine that a person is charged with a serious crime. The evidence against him is pretty good. If it goes to trial, there is a fair chance that the jury will have at least one reasonable doubt and vote not guilty. The prosecutor believes the person should spend at least 2 years in prison. However, the minimum sentence is only 18 months. Given these facts the prosecutor wants to plea bargain the case. The prosecutor really wants the defendant to serve 2 years.

In order to get a plea bargain, could the prosecutor offer the defendant better food when he/she does his/her time? What about a large private cell? What about free college education when in prison?

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    So is the question about how a prosecuter can sidestep the power of the judge and jury? IOW subvert the due process of justice?
    – Weather Vane
    Commented Jan 2, 2022 at 9:06
  • @WeatherVane It looks like you are telling me that the prosecutor cannot offer the defendant better food or a large private cell. Am I right about that?
    – Bob
    Commented Jan 2, 2022 at 14:22
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    The prosecuting counsel isn't the judge, nor runs the prisons, nor decides which prison (if any). The Department of Corrections decides which prison the convict goes to. Again it reads as though you think the prosecution should be able to get a conviction on a lesser charge, but a sentence fitting the original charge. I doubt they would be able to get that past the defense counsel.
    – Weather Vane
    Commented Jan 2, 2022 at 14:27
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    None of it stacks up. If they aren't confident the jury will convict, then the evidence can't be so great. But if they do convict, the prosecution would prefer 2 years cushy jail time, than 18 months in a dungeon. Are you writing a novel?
    – Weather Vane
    Commented Jan 2, 2022 at 16:55
  • @WeatherVane Thanks for the response. I am not writing a novel.
    – Bob
    Commented Jan 2, 2022 at 21:59

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Generally speaking, a plea bargain does not include conditions of confinement. The prosecutor can recommend that the judge and department of corrections sentence someone to serve at one facility rather than another, but that recommendation is not binding and micromanagement of how the department of corrections manages someone who has been sentenced is generally not allowed.

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