Opinion ID: 1135841
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Right to enter a change of plea

Text: On September 18, 1992, Hedlund's attorney and the prosecutor had an informal conference in the judge's chambers regarding a plea agreement that had been reached between Hedlund and the prosecutor. Because this meeting was off-the-record, there is no contemporaneous documentation of what took place. There is also no record of the substance of the proffered plea agreement. Both parties agree, however, that the judge indicated he would not accept the plea because it lacked accountability for Hedlund with respect to the McClain homicide. Following the informal conference, the court convened on the record and put counsel on notice that it was setting a firm trial date of October 13, 1992. After this, there is nothing in the record regarding the status of plea negotiations until October 13. In the interim, Hedlund filed a motion to require the trial judge to recuse himself so that he could enter a plea in front of another judge. Hedlund's proffered reason for seeking the recusal was the appearance of impropriety arising from the judge having read letters from a victim's family expressing their feelings about the plea rejected by the judge on September 18. A hearing on the recusal motion was held, at which Hedlund attempted to memorialize the substance of the September 18 informal meeting. In actuality, the recusal hearing consisted primarily of hearsay and recollection about what happened at that meeting, what was said during telephone calls placed in the interim, and what was supposedly contained in the latest plea agreement. The crux of Hedlund's complaint on this point is a claim that the trial judge refused to make himself available on Friday, October 9 to review the latest plea agreement. Hedlund contends that because of this refusal, he was unable enter a plea and avoid the death penalty. The trial judge testified at the recusal hearing that pursuant to a telephonic agreement earlier in the week, the attorneys were to be in his office on Thursday, October 8, but were not. There is nothing in the record showing a plea agreement was reached between Hedlund and the prosecutor after the September 18 plea was rejected. The prosecutor testified that Hedlund rejected his subsequent offer on October 6, that there was never an offer outstanding after October 7, and because no further agreement was reached, there was never a reason to go to the judge. Because this record does not indicate that a second plea agreement was ever reached and submitted, we reject the claim that the trial judge declined to further entertain a plea. It is well settled that criminal defendants have no constitutional right to a plea agreement and the state is not required to offer one. See State v. Draper, 162 Ariz 433, 440, 784 P.2d 259, 266 (1989); State v. Morse, 127 Ariz. 25, 31-32, 617 P.2d 1141, 1147-48 (1980). Furthermore, a plea bargain can be revoked by any party, at any time, prior to its acceptance by the court. Id.; Ariz.R.Crim.P. 17.4(b) and (d). With no right to a plea bargain and the ability of the prosecution to discontinue negotiations at will or withdraw a plea offer prior to court acceptance, we also cannot conclude that the trial judge abused his discretion by refusing to schedule a hearing to review a plea agreement that does not appear to have existed.