Opinion ID: 2576334
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Scope of Judicial Authority

Text: ¶ 26 Montiel next argues that the trial court abused its discretion because its rejection of the plea agreement exceed[ed] the limits [of judicial authority] prescribed by law. State v. Bluff, 2002 UT 66, ¶ 66, 52 P.3d 1210. In support of what is essentially a separation of powers argument, Montiel cites cases from two jurisdictions that place great emphasis on prosecutorial discretion to enter into plea agreements and therefore require a trial court to show abuse of that discretion or other similarly extreme circumstances before it is permitted to reject a plea agreement. [14] As we noted above, however, in the vast majority of jurisdictions such a stringent restriction on judicial discretion is limited to the inherently executive powers of indictment and dismissal, and not to plea bargains, in which both executive and judicial functions are involved. The simple fact that a plea bargain may contain an agreement to dismiss one or more charges does not limit judicial discretion in considering the plea. Even though a plea bargain [may be] cast in the form of a dismissal of [a] count, [its] effect [is] to limit the sentence available; thus, the district judge [may] properly exercise[] reasonable discretion in rejecting the plea bargain. United States v. Carrigan, 778 F.2d 1454, 1463 (10th Cir.1985) (internal quotation omitted); see also Torres-Echavarria, 129 F.3d at 697 ([A] prosecutor's proposal to dismiss a claim ... in consideration of a plea of guilty to some other offense... implicates core judicial functions. In such a case, the court's adjudicatory and sentencing responsibilities justify active scrutiny of the plea agreement....). ¶ 27 We thus do not believe that any separation of powers concerns are implicated in this case. Indeed, our discussion above distinguishes this case from those in which such concerns might arise. Here, it is clear that the trial court was well within its authority to review and reject the proposed plea agreement. Thus, Montiel's second argument also fails.