Court Opinion

ID: 9694105
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 17:23:28.924688+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:19:56.329608
License: Public Domain

ZASTROW, Justice
(concurring in part, dissenting in part).
Although I agree that the trial court acted properly in allowing the defendant to withdraw his guilty plea, I have grave reservations regarding the acceptance of the plea by the court in the first instance. Although the defendant agreed to the plea agreement and his attorney concurred in the entry of the guilty plea, I believe that an agreement of this nature should have been rejected by the trial court.
The plea agreement required the defendant and codefendant Stekloff, after entering guilty pleas but before sentencing, to aid and assist Division of Criminal Investigation agents in making six or eight drug arrests. The satisfactory compliance with this plea bargain was to be determined, not by the state’s attorney or the court, but by the DCI agents. The sentencing was to be delayed “for an indefinite period of time,” and if the DCI agents were satisfied with the defendant’s cooperation, the state would “not oppos[e] the Defendants urging for suspension of imposition of sentence.”
In order that “the general public should not be aware of that” the agreement was *40presented to the judge in camera and at the arraignment the defendant stated for the public record that no deals or promises had been made. No factual basis for the plea was established.
This court has previously indicated that the trial judge should not be involved in the plea bargaining process. State v. McConkey, 1976, S.D., 247 N.W.2d 687; State v. Doherty, 1978, S.D., 261 N.W.2d 677. When the plea of guilty is entered as part of a plea agreement, the plea agreement is either to be accepted or rejected by the trial court. If it is accepted, it is to be incorporated into the sentence. If it is rejected, the defendant must be given the opportunity to withdraw his plea. Here there was no final agreement for the court to either accept or reject. The agreement was still contingent upon any number of subjective evaluations of the defendant other than by the court. The trial judge placed himself squarely in the middle of the incomplete plea negotiation process; it appears that the plea was not intended to be an admission of guilt but simply a part of the “cover” for the defendant’s future collaboration in the drug investigation.
The trial judge would be well advised to reject these types of agreements, or find himself in the position of later determining whether a defendant was at fault for the failure of the police investigation.1 Plea agreements whose terms cannot be determined until long after the guilty plea is entered and only before an unduly delayed sentencing should be rejected.
The majority does not discuss whether or not it was error for the trial court to define “marijuana in a processed form.” Instead it finds that the failure to propose a written instruction waives any error. If it was error not to instruct on the definition of the phrase, the failure to propose an instruction is not necessary to preserve the question. What is necessary, is that the error in failing to give proper instruction is brought to the attention of the trial court prior to the instructions being given to the jury to allow the trial court to correct it. State v. Greene, 1971, 86 S.D. 177, 192 N.W.2d 712; Schmidt v. Wildcat Cave, Inc., 1977, S.D., 261 N.W.2d 114. However, I am unable to find any indication that defendant ever raised the issue of an instruction defining the term at the trial.
I also disagree with the majority’s disposition of the conspiracy charge. The elements of a conspiracy are (1) an express or tacit preconceived agreement (2) between two or more persons (3) with a common design or purpose (4) to accomplish an unlawful purpose amounting to a crime. Marshall v. People, 1966,160 Colo. 323, 417 P.2d 491.
The only evidence of a preconceived agreement was the testimony of the “co-conspirator,” Stekloff, that he and defendant were in the drug business together. The corroborating evidence introduced by the state does not establish the existence of a preconceived agreement between Stekloff and defendant to distribute drugs. Although it may establish that defendant “aided and abetted” Stekloff in the commission of this particular criminal act, “conspiring” and “aid and abetting” are distinctly different acts as far as criminal responsibility is concerned. People v. Bazaure, 1965, 235 Cal.App.2d 21, 44 Cal.Rptr. 831; People v. Malotte, 1956, 46 Cal.2d 59, 292 P.2d 517; People v. Marrone, 1962, 210 Cal.App.2d 299, 26 Cal.Rptr. 721.
I also question whether the majority’s view on the admission of a co-conspirators statements prior to the submission of sufficient corroborative proof of the conspiracy is correct. It appears that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, upon which the majority relies, now requires that the co-conspirators statements not be admitted until the state has introduced sufficient corroborative evidence. United States v. James, 5 Cir., 576 F.2d 1121.
*41I would reverse the conviction for conspiracy to distribute marijuana on the grounds that there was insufficient corroborative evidence of a preconceived agreement between Stekloff and defendant to distribute marijuana. See People v. Atley, 1974, 392 Mich. 298, 220 N.W.2d 465. However, because there was sufficient corroborative evidence that defendant participated in this sale, the accomplice’s testimony would be admissible to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant aided and abetted in this distribution. Likewise, the corroborative evidence of joint possession was sufficient to allow the testimony of the accomplice to be admitted to prove joint possession beyond a reasonable doubt.

. Here the codefendant allegedly spread the word on campus that the defendant was a “narc.” However, Stekloff retained the benefit of the agreement by testifying against the defendant. Defendant also alleges that the DCI agent went on vacation shortly after the plea and he had no one to “aid or assist.” Later, he alleges the agent would not return his calls or meet him.