In most cases, both you and the prosecutor want to avoid a trial with higher charges vs settling. A jury is unpredictable. In addition, how the facts come out at trial is uncertain-- A witness forgetting a detail, a bad question by the prosecution, a witness never telling your story because of a good prosecutor or bungling by your attorney. In addition to risk, the cost of a trial can be too high for you to afford and this may mean cutting your defense short-- you may not be able to afford the top mainland or Hawaii expert witnesses. The defense has bargaining leverage because the prosecutor is always pressed for time and money required to take a case to trial (on top of the risk that it will be easy for the defense to show "reasonable doubt"). A good defense attorney can exploit this. Defense attorney's know that certain cases that fit certain patterns are avoided by prosecutors and are easy to settle.

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