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What happened to the criminal jury trial?

Our office goes to trial as much as anyone.  Which is to say sometimes it is difficult to find a jury trial.  This is a shame.  Is that because i want to play with someone’s life?  I want to hone my skills on someone’s liberty?  No.  The jury trial is the only measure by which the government can be held in check.  Those citizens chosen for duty and given up days and weeks to hear a matter that doesn’t concern them at all.   Most (92-97%) of criminal cases end in pleas.  Is that a good thing?  Do the police and prosecutors do such a good job that in nearly every case there is not a mistake or worse?  Unless you go to trial you don’t know.  However, if you are given a high cash bond and you cannot get out of jail, the effect of the pre-trial loss of your freedom becomes coercive.  You have to get back to work.  You have to make money.  So people plea to things they may not have done to get out of jail. A plea is good if the lawyer has taken the time to determine the state has enough evidence to convict.  If they do not, there should be a trial.