Court Opinion

ID: 9649672
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 15:05:45.410159+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:24:44.825491
License: Public Domain

Bogdanski, J.
(concurring in part and dissenting in part). The trial judge must exercise a sound discretion in deciding whether to permit the withdrawal of a guilty plea. State v. Brown, 157 Conn. *47492, 496, 255 A.2d 612. I would apply the principle recently adopted by the' United States Supreme Court as an amendment to the federal Rules of Criminal Procedure,1 and recommended by the American Bar Association2 and the American Law Institute,3 and hold that the trial judge exceeded *48his discretion by refusing to permit the plaintiff to withdraw his bargained-for guilty plea when the judge had decided that he would not go along with the bargain. “The court in exercise of its discretion will permit one accused to substitute a plea of not guilty and have a trial if for any reason the granting of the privilege seems fair and just.” Kercheval v. United States, 274 U.S. 220, 224, 47 S. Ct. 582, 71 L. Ed. 1009; State v. Brown, supra. “[Wjhen a plea rests in any significant degree on ,a promise or agreement of the prosecutor, so that it can be said to be a part of the inducement or consideration, such promise must be fulfilled [if the plea is to be accepted].” Santobello v. New York, 404 U.S. 257, 262, 92 S. Ct. 495, 30 L. Ed. 2d 427. If the trial judge decides not to concur in the bargain, as is his prerogative, fundamental fairness to the accused requires him to permit the accused to bow out of his end of the deal.4 United States v. Gallington, 488 F.2d 637, 640 (8th Cir.); United States ex rel. Culbreath v. Rundle, 466 F.2d 730, 735 (3d Cir.); see also Ward v. United States, 116 F.2d 135, 137 (6th Cir.); Quintana v. Robinson, 31 Conn. Sup. 22, 319 A.2d 515. As Mr. Justice Stewart said, concurring in Dukes v. Warden, 406 U.S. 250, 257-58, *4992 S. Ct. 1551, 32 L. Ed. 2d 45: “If a defendant moves to withdraw a guilty plea before judgment and if he states a reason for doing so, I think that he need not shoulder a further burden of proving the ‘merit’ of his reason at that time. Before judgment, the courts should show solicitude for a defendant who wishes to undo a waiver of all the constitutional rights that surround the right to trial—perhaps the most devastating waiver possible under our Constitution. Any requirement that a defendant prove the ‘merit’ of his reason for undoing this waiver would confuse the obvious difference between the withdrawal of a guilty plea before the government has relied on the plea to its disadvantage, and a later challenge to such a plea, on appeal or collaterally, when the judgment is final and the government clearly has relied on the plea.”
I concur in the holding of the majority opinion that General Statutes § 54-1a is pro tanto unconstitutional.

 See recently adopted Rule 11 (e) (4): “If the court rejects the plea agreement, the court shall inform the parties of this fact, advise the defendant personally in open court that the court is not bound by the plea agreement, afford the defendant the opportunity to then withdraw his plea, and advise the defendant that if he persists in his guilty plea or plea of nolo contendere the disposition of the case may be less favorable to the defendant than that contemplated by the plea agreement.” 52 F.R.D. 415, 417, 429.

 See A.B.A. Standards Relating to the Function of the Trial Judge (Approved Draft, 1972) § 4.1 (c) : “If the plea agreement contemplates the granting of charge or sentence concessions by the trial judge, he should: . . . (iii) permit withdrawal of the plea (or, if it has not yet been accepted, withdrawal of the tender of the plea) in any case in which the judge determines not to grant the charge or sentence concessions contemplated by the agreement.” Four years earlier, the proposal was that the trial judge permit withdrawal of the plea whenever he had previously indicated that he would concur in the agreement but then changed his mind. A.B.A. Standards Relating to Pleas of Guilty (Approved Draft, 1968) § 2.1 (a) (ii) (5). The commentary to the A.B.A. Standards Relating to the Function of the Trial Judge (Approved Draft, 1972) states (p. 57): “[T}he standard recommended here by the Advisory Committee on the Judge’s Function . . . mandates giving the defendant the opportunity to withdraw his plea whether or not the judge chooses to give advance notice as to his concurrence in the agreement. . . . [T]here is little difference, from the viewpoint of fair treatment, between cases where the judge gives advance notice of concurrence and those where he only follows the standards of requiring disclosure of the agreements and giving them due consideration. Even though the judge has said nothing to the defendant in the latter situation except that he need not follow the prosecutor's recommendations, there nevertheless remains at least the taint of false inducement.”

 See A.L.I. Model Code of Pre-Arraignment Procedure (Tentative Draft No. 5, 1972) $ 350.5 (4): “Before accepting a plea pursuant to a plea agreement, the court shall- advise the parties whether it approves the agreement and will dispose of the ease in accordance therewith. If the court determines to disapprove the agreement and *48not to dispose of the case in accordance therewith, it shall so inform the parties, not accept the defendant’s plea of guilty or nolo contendere, and advise the defendant personally that he is not bound by the agreement.”

 “If the judge were not to give the defendant this chance [to withdraw his plea], but instead held the defendant to his plea and refused to grant the concessions contemplated in the plea agreement, the defendant would probably believe that he had been dealt with unfairly. There are obvious reasons, from a correctional standpoint,why a defendant should be satisfied that he was treated fairly when he arrives at the penitentiary.” A.B.A. Standards Relating to Pleas of Guilty (Approved Draft, 1968) § 3.3(b), Commentary at Sup. page 2.