Federal plea agreements usually include a stipulation that the government will support granting the defendant the acceptance of responsibility reduction.
In rare situations a defendant may clearly demonstrate an acceptance of responsibility for his criminal conduct even though he exercises his constitutional right to a trial.
In each such instance, however, a determination that a defendant has accepted responsibility will be based primarily upon pre-trial statements and conduct.Because the vast majority of federal criminal cases are settled by plea bargains, the application of this reduction is extremely common and has a great impact on the number of prisoner-years served altogether throughout the U.S. justice system.
[6] Whether or not a defendant has accepted responsibility for his crime is a factual determination to which most circuits have decided to apply the "clearly erroneous" standard of review.
[7] The guideline commentary states, "The reduction of offense level provided by this section recognizes legitimate societal interests.