Published at LXer:

Hans Reiser, the Linux programmer facing a mandatory 25-to life term for killing his wife, might disclose the location of Nina Reiser's body in exchange for a reduced term, Alameda County District Attorney Thomas Orloff told Threat Level on Friday. "There's been some overtures," he said. "But everything is in its preliminary stage." Another source familiar with the proposal, speaking on condition of anonymity because no deal has been struck, said Reiser, the prosecution and Alameda County Superior Court Judge Larry Goodman would have to sign off on the proposed deal. Under the plan, Reiser's cooperation could reduce his April conviction from first-degree murder to second degree.

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I don't get why any court (that should work in terms of justice and nothing else) should (or should be allowed) to trade anything; the whole point of the system is to make sure laws are obeyed and justice is given, and therefore it sounds more than odd that they can make deals with somebody.. "Ok, whatcha got? A location of a body we never found? A couple murderers we never caught some dozen years ago? Hey, how about if you give some information and we forget the stuff about first-degree murder, let's just call it an accident.."

But then again, the countries that claim to be the most modern and civilized and believe in justice and equality are those that do death penalties, torturing, bribing and trading of rights Oh well..

Actually, this kind of horse trading sometimes works in favor of the system. Getting someone to plead guilty to a lesser charge when you may not be able to nail them on a higher charge isn't a bad thing. You save the cost of a jury trial if nothing else. Besides, jury trials are always a crap shoot to some degree, and there is no guarantee that putting everyone on trial all the time guarantees equal justice for all.

Of course in this case, the fact that he's willing to lead authorities to her body probably means the jury got the verdict right.