I was talking with a Public Defender the other day. He was feeling a bit depressed after a weeklong trial.

It was for rape, a reasonably open and shut matter with some tenuous and possibly mitigating circumstances. It had seemed to the Public Defender a very, very long shot for the guy.

The jury deliberated for only a little while, less than 3 hours. Hope swelled in the attorney's chest.

However, they found the fellow guilty. The judge sentenced him to 15 years. Turns out most of the deliberations were on the degree of guilt, not if he was guilty.

At that point the guy had been in jail for 9 months, all of which would have counted toward the sentence of 18 months which had been offered before the trial in a plea bargain.