NCJ Number
143699
Journal
American Criminal Law Review Volume: 30 Issue: 3 Dated: (Spring 1993) Pages: 1117-1138
Date Published
1993
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This review of guilty pleas and practice under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure addresses requisites for entry of a guilty plea, breach of the plea agreement, the effect of the guilty plea, withdrawal of the plea, and negotiation of the plea.
Abstract
Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure governs guilty pleas and plea bargaining. Under Rule 11(e)(1), the prosecutor and defense can bargain that the government will move for dismissal of other charges, make a nonbinding recommendation to the court for a particular sentence, or agree upon a specific sentence in exchange for a guilty plea. The court is prohibited from engaging in plea negotiations. For a plea to be constitutionally acceptable, Rule 11 requires that the plea must be voluntary and intelligent and must have a factual basis. In addition, the defendant must have effective assistance of counsel in deciding to plead guilty; however, there is no absolute right to have a guilty plea accepted. Like a contract, a plea agreement can be breached. Since a plea agreement implicates constitutional rights, a breach raises due process concerns. In discussing breaches of plea agreements, this review considers the possibility of breach by both prosecutor and defendant, as well as the way in which courts interpret whether or not a breach has occurred and the remedies available to the defendant in the event of a breach. The discussion of the negotiation of the plea focuses on defense strategies, prosecution strategies, the timing of negotiations, and practice under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. 144 footnotes