Opinion ID: 360357
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the government's breach of the plea agreement

Text: 13 An analysis of whether or not a promise made by the Government for the purpose of obtaining a defendant's plea of guilty to a criminal charge has been fulfilled commences with the rule that when 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 v. New York, 404 U.S. 257, 262, 92 S.Ct. 495, 499, 30 L.Ed.2d 427 (1971). Strict fulfillment of prosecutorial promises emanates as a requirement from the significant consequences of a guilty plea the waiver of important constitutional rights and the adjudicative element that is inherent in the plea. Id. 14 Unlike Santobello, however, where there was a clear promise to the defendant and a clear breach of that promise, the instant case involves a facially ambiguous statement by the Government that it may exercise its discretion to consider a reduction of recommended sentence in light of the specified factors. On the face of the statement there is no explicit promise by the Government that it would recommend a reduction, and the Government now argues that the language of the agreement only created a unilateral option for the Government in its discretion to recommend or not to recommend a lesser period of incarceration. The Government argues that there was in fact no promise. 15 We are of the opinion that the very presence of the statement in the written and executed plea bargain document to consider the specific mitigating factors shows that there was an implicit promise by the Government that it would consider these factors and would make a recommendation based on this consideration. The structure of the plea agreement shows that the Government's promise to consider the defendant's health and his cooperation and the Antitrust Division sentencing guidelines was intended by the Government, and was understood by the defendant, as an inducement for the defendant's plea of guilty. The inclusion in the agreement of the language that the Government's recommendations as to incarceration    may be reduced, based upon the specified factors would serve no purpose in the plea agreement unless construed to contain an implicit promise to consider the specified factors, for the Government had the authority to consider such mitigating factors even without the assent of the defendant to the language. The Government had no need to secure a unilateral option for it to consider such factors with an eye toward Reducing its recommendation as to the sentence of incarceration. To construe the plea agreement as not including the Government's implicit promise to consider the specified factors would be to render the language mere surplusage. The language was included in the agreement as an indication to the defendant that these factors would in fact be considered in arriving at the recommendation as to sentence. The Government will not be allowed to avoid the obligation it thus incurred by claiming now that the language literally promises nothing to the defendant. A plea agreement is not an appropriate context for the Government to resort to a rigidly literal approach in the construction of language. Cf. United States v. Brown, 500 F.2d 375 (4th Cir. 1974) (holding that where the prosecutor promised to recommend a particular sentence, the mere half-hearted recitation of a suggested sentence would not satisfy the plea agreement). 16 The institutional framework within which plea bargaining takes place in our criminal justice system supports the conclusion that the Government implicitly promised to consider the specified mitigating factors. The Supreme Court has stated that (d)isposition of charges after plea discussions is not only an essential part of the process but a highly desirable part for many reasons, Santobello v. New York, Supra, 404 U.S. at 261, 92 S.Ct. at 498, and properly administered, plea bargaining is to be encouraged. However, both to protect the plea bargaining defendant from overreaching by the prosecutor and to insure the integrity of the plea bargaining process, the most meticulous standards of both promise and performance must be met by prosecutors engaging in plea bargaining. Correale v. United States, 479 F.2d 944, 947 (1st Cir. 1973). See also Palermo v. Warden, Green Haven State Prison, 545 F.2d 286 (2d Cir. 1976), petition for certiorari dismissed, 431 U.S. 911, 97 S.Ct. 2166, 53 L.Ed.2d 221 (1976); Geisser v. United States, 513 F.2d 862 (5th Cir. 1975). 17 Therefore, we hold that the Government did promise to undertake a good faith analysis of the defendant's health and his cooperation in further prosecutions and investigations and of the Antitrust Division's sentencing guidelines as they applied to the defendant and to base its recommendation as to whether or not the combined sentences should be three years or less on such an analysis. The next issue is whether or not the Government honored that promise. 18 In determining whether or not the Government has lived up to its promise, we are faced at the outset with the problem that the Government's promise to exercise its discretion in undertaking a review of the specified mitigating factors is an evaluative function normally performed internally within the office of the prosecutor, and the sentence recommendation by the Government may not be questioned by a defendant as long as it is within the maximum terms set forth in the plea agreement. Based on the facts in this case, we hold that the Government's evaluation of the specified mitigating factors must be set forth in the record at the time of sentencing. Without such a record, there would be no way to ascertain whether or not the Government had in fact performed the promised evaluation, and it is not the privilege of the Government to make the determination as to whether or not it has honored its promise. In United States v. Simmons, 537 F.2d 1260 (4th Cir. 1976), the Government had promised to recommend a term of 15 years' incarceration if the defendants gave full cooperation. Believing that the defendants had not cooperated fully, the Government instead recommended, and the defendants received, a term of incarceration of 18 years. The court of appeals held that the Government may not unilaterally determine that the defendants had breached the plea agreement by not cooperating fully, and also held that the Government must set forth in the record sufficient reasons for its belief that the defendants had not cooperated fully. 19 We will now consider whether or not the present record reflects an adequate evaluation by the Government of the factors that it promised to evaluate. 20 The Government's presentation to the sentencing judge was made by an attorney who represented the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department. 3 He stressed the seriousness of the offenses and the extent of the defendant's involvement. He also made a more extensive presentation of the defendant's cooperation with the Government and stated that the defendant had cooperated and provided information to the Government, but he added that the Antitrust Division believed the defendant's cooperation to have been less valuable than the cooperation given by other parties involved in the cases who had been given immunity. No analysis was presented by him of the state of the defendant's health or of the application of the Antitrust Division sentencing guidelines, particularly as they relate to the possible substitution of fines in the place of incarceration. 21 The presentation by the Government attorney thus failed to comply with the obligations which the Government assumed under the plea agreement. The record reflects a sufficient consideration of the defendant's cooperation, but it contains no indication that the Government gave any serious consideration to the other factors specifically mentioned in the plea agreement. The Government's entire statement to the sentencing judge as to the defendant's health consisted of the following: With regard to health, the probation office has provided your Honor with medical data which certainly can be evaluated by your Honor rather than the government. We hold that this statement does not indicate that the Government kept its promise to consider the defendant's health before making its recommendation to the sentencing judge. 22 The record is also devoid of any indication that the Government made an assessment of the Antitrust Division's sentencing guidelines, as the Government promised to do, particularly as the guidelines relate to the possibility of substituting fines for incarceration. Therefore, we hold that the Government also breached its obligation arising from the plea agreement to take the Antitrust Division's guidelines into account.