OBJECTIVE COVID-19 has impacted many facets of daily life and the legal system is no exception. Legal scholars have hypothesized that the effects of the pandemic may contribute to more coercive plea bargains (Cannon, 2020; Johnson, 2020). In this study, we explored defense attorneys' perceptions of whether and how the plea process has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. HYPOTHESES This study was exploratory, and we made no a priori hypotheses. METHOD We surveyed 93 practicing United States defense attorneys about their perceptions of whether and how the pandemic has affected court procedures, plea-bargaining and prosecutorial behavior, and defendant decision-making. We conducted semistructured follow-up interviews with 13 defense attorneys to help contextualize the survey responses. RESULTS The majority of defense attorneys (81%, n = 76) reported that the plea process had changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that they experienced difficulty contacting and communicating with their clients, especially those who were detained. Two thirds of defense attorneys (n = 42) who said the plea process had changed thought that prosecutors were offering more lenient deals. One third of defense attorneys with detained clients (n = 23) reported having had clients plead guilty due to COVID-19 related conditions who might not have under normal circumstances. CONCLUSIONS The majority of defense attorneys reported that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted their ability to access and advise clients, and they believed that leverage in plea negotiations had shifted further to individual prosecutors. At the same time, the attorneys reported that prosecutors were offering more lenient deals, painting a complex picture of the plea negotiation process during the pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 加剧了使被告处于不利地位的现有系统因素：来自全国辩护律师调查的结果。

目标 COVID-19 影响了日常生活的许多方面，法律制度也不例外。法律学者假设，大流行的影响可能会导致更具强制性的辩诉交易（Cannon，2020 年；Johnson，2020 年）。在这项研究中，我们探讨了辩护律师对在 COVID-19 大流行期间认罪过程是否以及如何发生变化的看法。假设这项研究是探索性的，我们没有做出先验假设。方法 我们调查了 93 名美国执业辩护律师，了解他们对大流行是否以及如何影响法庭程序、辩诉交易和起诉行为以及被告决策的看法。我们对 13 名辩护律师进行了半结构化的后续采访，以帮助将调查答复置于背景中。结果 大多数辩护律师 (81%, n = 76) 报告说，在 COVID-19 大流行期间认罪程序发生了变化，他们在与客户联系和沟通方面遇到了困难，尤其是那些被拘留的人。三分之二的辩护律师 (n = 42) 表示认罪程序发生了变化，认为检察官正在提供更宽松的交易。三分之一的客户被拘留的辩护律师 (n = 23) 报告称，客户因 COVID-19 相关条件而认罪，而在正常情况下可能不会这样做。结论 大多数辩护律师报告说，COVID-19 大流行影响了他们接触客户和为客户提供建议的能力，他们认为辩诉谈判中的影响力已进一步转移到个别检察官身上。与此同时，律师报告说，检察官正在提供更宽松的交易，描绘了大流行期间认罪谈判过程的复杂图景。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2021 APA，保留所有权利）。