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Sentencing
In New Jersey there are generally two types of plea arrangements that are available for a defendant accused of a crime. One is a negotiated plea and the other is a contract plea.Under a contract plea agreement, the defendant and the government agree on a minimum term of imprisonment under circumstances where a trial court cannot impose a lessor sentence than that required by the agreement. If the a trial court is inclined to impose a more lenient term of imprisonment, its only option is to reject the agreement and require the defendant to go to trial. The concept appears to have its roots in a specific section of New Jersey’s Criminal Code. (Code).
In a negotiated agreement, the government simply “recommends” a sentence that is identified in the plea agreement. Under those circumstances, the court is empowered to impose a lesser sentence.
In 1989, in a case titled, State v. Warren, the Supreme Court addressed a third form of a plea arrangement that existed at the time, which was known as “a negotiated sentence.” The court defined a negotiated sentence as one where the government and the defendant understood that the agreed upon sentence must be imposed in order to satisfy the terms of the plea arrangement. If the sentencing court did not comport with the expectations of the party, either party had the right to withdraw from the plea arrangement, and proceed to trial because there was a material breach of the plea bargain. In Warren, the court declared that a “negotiated sentence” was unconstitutional.
In addressing the issue, the court began its analysis by observing that plea agreements require a give and take from both sides. The defendant waives rather important constitutional rights, including the right to a jury trial, the right to counsel, the right to confront and cross examine witnesses in return for a sentence that was less than required by the Code. The government, on the other hand, also surrendered important rights and responsibilities, including the right to prosecute the defendant for all of the charges, to obtain a conviction on all charges and to require the imposition of a sentence consistent with the defendant’s guilt. At the core of the process, so the court observed, were principals of fairness. In that regard, the court noted that “if plea bargaining is to fulfill its intended purposes, it must be conducted fairly on both sides and the results must not disappoint the reasonable expectations of either.”
The Court next looked to its own rules to make a number of other important conclusions. The first was that a judge could not actively participate in plea discussions. The second, is that absent a negotiated contract plea agreement a prosecutor can only recommend to the court an appropriate penalty. Most importantly, the rules indicated rather unequivocally that only a defendant is entitled to withdraw its guilty plea, if the trial court imposed a sentence beyond the government’s recommendation. In addition, the court noted that the government’s ability to reject a plea agreement where the sentencing judge issued a penalty less than that agreed upon in a plea agreement could violate principles of double jeopardy and due process.
Finally, the court concluded that negotiated sentences would seriously interfere with the sentencing discretion of trial courts and impeded the trial court’s affirmative responsibility to consider the aggravating and mitigating factors under the Code in its sentencing analysis. Thus, a negotiated sentence pleas were validated, the court’s neutrality could be threatened by a prosecutor who seeks to reject the plea because a more a lenient sentence has been imposed.
Given the court’s ruling in Warren, the question becomes whether a contract plea agreement is an acceptable form of a plea bargain?
The Court next looked to its own rules to make a number of other important conclusions. The first was that a judge could not actively participate in plea discussions. The second, is that absent a negotiated contract plea agreement a prosecutor can only recommend to the court an appropriate penalty. Most importantly, the rules indicated rather unequivocally that only a defendant is entitled to withdraw its guilty plea, if the trial court imposed a sentence beyond the government’s recommendation. In addition, the court noted that the government’s ability to reject a plea agreement where the sentencing judge issued a penalty less than that agreed upon in a plea agreement could violate principles of double jeopardy and due process.
Finally, the court concluded that negotiated sentences would seriously interfere with the sentencing discretion of trial courts and impeded the trial court’s affirmative responsibility to consider the aggravating and mitigating factors under the Code in its sentencing analysis. Thus, a negotiated sentence pleas were validated, the court’s neutrality could be threatened by a prosecutor who seeks to reject the plea because a more a lenient sentence has been imposed.
Given the court’s ruling in Warren, the question becomes whether a contract plea agreement is an acceptable form of a plea bargain?
Frank T. Luciano, Esq., is a trial lawyer in Bergen County, Passaic County, Hudson County and Morris County with over thirty years of experience in the defense of criminal prosecutions with special emphasis in drug crimes and drunk driving (DWI/DUI) offenses.
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Frank T. Luciano, PC
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