Court Opinion

ID: 9611375
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 03:56:10.287635+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:03:14.156669
License: Public Domain

RICHARDSON, J., Concurring and Dissenting.
I concur in that portion of the majority opinion which holds that while a defendant has a right to present evidence tending to mitigate punishment or assist in the determination of his application for probation, he has no right to cross-examine the Department of Corrections’ employees who prepared the report or to introduce expert testimony challenging the methods used by the staff.
I respectfully dissent, however, from that portion of the majority opinion which holds that, as a general principle, whenever a judge accepts a plea bargain one of the implied and enforceable terms of the bargain is that sentence will be imposed by the particular judge who accepts the plea. In my opinion no express promise should be made by a court, the prosecutor, or defense counsel; nor should such a condition in the usual case be routinely implied. A promise to a defendant that a particular judge will impose sentence has been held to be improper, because it encourages “judge-shopping,” an undesirable practice that should be discouraged. (People v. Preciado (1978) 78 Cal.App.3d 144, 149 [144 Cal.Rptr. 102].)
Because it appears in the matter before us that entry of the plea was conditioned upon imposition of sentence by a particular judge who was not available, failure to meet the condition constituted a breach of the plea bargain and defendant must be permitted to withdraw his guilty plea and replead if he so elects.