Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/467/504/
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 08:35:14+00:00

Document:
After respondent was convicted in an Arkansas state court on charges of burglary, assault, and murder, the Arkansas Supreme Court set aside the murder conviction, and plea negotiations ensued. A deputy prosecutor proposed to respondent's attorney that, in exchange for a guilty plea to a charge of accessory after a felony murder, the prosecutor would recommend a 21-year sentence to be served concurrently with the concurrent burglary and assault sentences. However, when defense counsel called the prosecutor three days later and communicated respondent's acceptance of the offer, the prosecutor told counsel that a mistake had been made, and withdrew the offer. He proposed instead that, in exchange for a guilty plea, he would recommend a 21-year sentence to be served consecutively to the other sentences. Respondent rejected the new offer, but after a mistrial was declared, he ultimately accepted the prosecutor's second offer, and the trial judge imposed a 21-year sentence to be served consecutively to the previous sentences. After exhausting state remedies, respondent sought habeas corpus relief in Federal District Court with respect to his guilty plea. The court dismissed the petition, holding that respondent had understood the consequences of his guilty plea, that he had received effective assistance of counsel, and that, because it was not established that he had detrimentally relied on the prosecutor's first proposed plea agreement, respondent had no right to enforce it. However, the Court of Appeals reversed, holding that "fairness" precluded the prosecution's withdrawal of the plea proposal once accepted by respondent.
respondent's plea was in no sense induced by the prosecutor's withdrawn offer, and it rested on no unfulfilled promise; he knew the prosecution would recommend a 21-year consecutive sentence. Thus, because it did not impair the voluntariness or intelligence of his guilty plea, respondent's inability to enforce the prosecutor's first offer is without constitutional significance. Neither is the question whether the prosecutor was negligent or otherwise culpable in first making and then withdrawing his offer relevant. Cf. Santobello v. New York, 404 U. S. 257. Pp. 467 U. S. 507-511.
Respondent rejected the new offer and elected to stand trial. On the second day of trial, the judge declared a mistrial, and plea negotiations resumed, ultimately resulting in respondent's acceptance of the prosecutor's second offer. In accordance with the plea bargain, the state trial judge imposed a 21-year sentence to be served consecutively to the previous sentences.
"[A] plea of guilty entered by one fully aware of the direct consequences, including the actual value of any commitments made to him by the court, prosecutor, or his own counsel, must stand unless induced by threats (or promises to discontinue improper harassment), misrepresentation (including unfulfilled or unfulfillable promises), or perhaps by promises that are, by their nature, improper as having no proper relationship to the prosecutor's business (e.g., bribes).:"
Id. at 397 U. S. 755 (quoting Shelton v. United States, 246 F.2d 571, 572, n. 2 (CA5 1957) (en banc) (in turn quoting 242 F.2d 101, 115 (Tuttle, J., dissenting to panel opinion)), rev'd on other grounds, 356 U. S. 26 (1958)).
"presuppose fairness in securing agreement between an accused and a prosecutor. . . . The plea must, of course, be voluntary and knowing, and, if it was induced by promises, the essence of those promises must in some way be made known."
"[W]hen a plea rests in any significant degree on a promise or agreement of the prosecutor, so that it can be said to be part of the inducement or consideration, such promise must be fulfilled."
Santobello demonstrates why respondent may not successfully attack his plea of guilty. Respondent's plea was in no sense induced by the prosecutor's withdrawn offer; unlike Santobello, who pleaded guilty thinking he had bargained for a specific prosecutorial sentencing recommendation which was not ultimately made, at the time respondent pleaded guilty, he knew the prosecution would recommend a 21-year consecutive sentence. Respondent does not challenge the District Court's finding that he pleaded guilty with the advice of competent counsel and with full awareness of the consequences -- he knew that the prosecutor would recommend and that the judge could impose the sentence now under attack. [Footnote 10] Respondent's plea was thus in no sense the product of governmental deception; it rested on no "unfulfilled promise," and fully satisfied the test for voluntariness and intelligence.
Neither is the question whether the prosecutor was negligent or otherwise culpable in first making and then withdrawing his offer relevant. The Due Process Clause is not a code of ethics for prosecutors; its concern is with the manner in which persons are deprived of their liberty. [Footnote 12] Here, respondent was not deprived of his liberty in any fundamentally unfair way. Respondent was fully aware of the likely consequences when he pleaded guilty; it is not unfair to expect him to live with those consequences now.
The petition was referred to a Magistrate, who conducted an evidentiary hearing and made recommended findings of fact and conclusions of law, which the District Court subsequently adopted.
Compare Virgin Islands v. Scotland, 614 F.2d 360 (CA3 1980), and United States v. Greenman, 700 F.2d 1377 (CA11), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 992 (1983), with Cooper v. United States, 594 F.2d 12 (CA4 1979).
This case is not moot, despite the fact that respondent has been paroled. Respondent remains in the "custody" of the State, see Jones v. Cunningham, 371 U. S. 236 (1963); see generally Justices of Boston Municipal Court v. Lydon, 466 U. S. 294, 466 U. S. 300-302 (1984); Hensle v. Municipal Court, 411 U. S. 345 (1973); and whether respondent must serve the sentence now under attack consecutively to his prior sentences will affect the date at which his parole will expire under state law, see Ark.Stat.Ann. § 43-2807(c) (Supp.1983). Respondent's challenge to the duration of his custody therefore remains live.
Under Arkansas law, there is no entitlement to have the trial court impose a recommended sentence, since a negotiated sentence recommendation does not bind the court, see Varnedare v. State, 264 Ark. 596, 599, 573 S.W.2d 57, 60 (1978); Marshall v. State, 262 Ark. 726, 561 S.W.2d 76 (1978); Ark.Rule Crim. Proc. 25.3(c); there is a critical difference between an entitlement and a mere hope or expectation that the trial court will follow the prosecutor's recommendation, see Olim v. Wakinekona, 461 U. S. 238, 461 U. S. 248-251 (1983); Jago v. Van Curen, 454 U. S. 14, 454 U. S. 19-21 (1981) (per curiam); Connecticut Board of Pardons v. Dumschat, 452 U. S. 458, 452 U. S. 465-467 (1981); Meachum v. Fano, 427 U. S. 215, 427 U. S. 226-227 (1976).
See Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U. S. 238 (1969); Kercheval v. United States, 274 U. S. 220, 274 U. S. 223 (1927).
See Tollett v. Henderson, 411 U. S. 258, 411 U. S. 266-267 (1973); North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U. S. 25, 400 U. S. 31 (1970); Parker v. North Carolina, 397 U. S. 790, 397 U. S. 797-798 (1970); McMann v. Richardson, 397 U. S. 759, 397 U. S. 772 (1970); Brady v. United States, 397 U. S. 742, 397 U. S. 747-748 (1970). See also Henderson v. Morgan, 426 U. S. 637 (1976); Menna v. New York, 423 U. S. 61 (1975) (per curiam).
"For a defendant who sees slight possibility of acquittal, the advantages of pleading guilty and limiting the probable penalty are obvious -- his exposure is reduced, the correctional processes can begin immediately, and the practical burdens of a trial are eliminated. For the State, there are also advantages -- the more promptly imposed punishment after an admission of guilt may more effectively attain the objectives of punishment; and with the avoidance of trial, scarce judicial and prosecutorial resources are conserved for those cases in which there is a substantial issue of the defendant's guilt or in which there is substantial doubt that the State can sustain its burden of proof. It is this mutuality of advantage that perhaps explains the fact that, at present, well over three-fourths of the criminal convictions in this country rest on pleas of guilty, a great many of them no doubt motivated at least in part by the hope or assurance of a lesser penalty than might be imposed if there were a guilty verdict after a trial to judge or jury."
397 U.S. at 397 U. S. 752 (footnotes omitted).
See also 404 U.S. at 404 U. S. 266 (Douglas, J., concurring); id. at 404 U. S. 269 (MARSHALL, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part).
Respondent suggests that the prosecutor's withdrawal of the initial offer undermined his confidence in defense counsel, in violation of his Sixth Amendment right to counsel. This argument is simply at odds with reason. Prosecutors often come to view an offense more seriously during the course of pretrial investigation for reasons entirely unrelated to what defense counsel has done or is likely to do. See United States v. Goodwin, 457 U. S. 368, 457 U. S. 381 (1982). We fail to see how an accused could reasonably attribute the prosecutor's change of heart to his counsel any more than he could have blamed counsel had the trial judge chosen to reject the agreed-upon recommendation, or, for that matter, had he gone to trial and been convicted. The District Court and the Court of Appeals concluded that counsel effectively advised respondent; that is all the Constitution requires. See United States v. Cronic, 466 U. S. 648, 466 U. S. 656-657, n.19 (1984); Tollett v. Henderson, 411 U.S. at 411 U. S. 266-268; Parker v. North Carolina, 397 U.S. at 397 U. S. 797-798; McMann v. Richardson, 397 U.S. at 397 U. S. 770-771.
Indeed, even if respondent's plea were invalid, Santobello expressly declined to hold that the Constitution compels specific performance of a broken prosecutorial promise as the remedy for such a plea; the Court made it clear that permitting Santobello to replead was within the range of constitutionally appropriate remedies. See 404 U.S. at 404 U. S. 262-263; see also id. at 404 U. S. 268-269 (MARSHALL, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part). It follows that respondent's constitutional rights could not have been violated. Because he pleaded after the prosecution had breached its "promise" to him, he was in no worse position than Santobello would have been had he been permitted to replead.
"It is now conceded that the promise to abstain from a recommendation was made, and, at this stage, the prosecution is not in a good position to argue that its inadvertent breach of agreement is immaterial. The staff lawyers in a prosecutor's office have the burden of 'letting the left hand know what the right hand is doing' or has done. That the breach of agreement was inadvertent does not lessen its impact."
Id. at 404 U. S. 262. Cf. United states v. Agurs, 427 U. S. 97, 427 U. S. 110 (1976).

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