Attorneys litigating the breach of a plea agreement might want to take a look at this new paper, Plea Agreements as Constitutional Contracts, by Professor Colin Miller of the University of South Carolina Law School. It highlights some interesting issues to raise on behalf of our clients–issues that could well make their way to SCOTUS… Read more
8. Plea bargain breach
State v. Patrick K. Tourville, 2016 WI 17, 3/15/2016, affirming an unpublished court of appeals decision; case activity (including briefs) Patrick Tourville pled to four crimes in a deal that called on the state to recommend a sentence no higher than the one recommended by the PSI. The PSI recommended a prison term for each count; the state recommended… Read more
Review of an unpublished per curiam court of appeals decision; affirmed 2016 WI 17; case activity (for 2014AP1248-CR, which links to the other consolidated cases) Issues (composed by On Point from the PFR) Where the State agreed to cap its sentence recommendation on four cases at the “high end” of the recommendation of the presentence investigation… Read more
State v. Warren E. Schabow, 2014AP1254-CR, District 3, 7/7/15 (not recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs) Based on the entire sentencing proceeding, the state didn’t breach the plea agreement because the prosecutor’s remarks did not insinuate the state was distancing itself from, or casting doubt on, its own sentencing recommendation. The state agreed to cap… Read more
State v. Nelson Luis Fortes, 2015 WI App 25; case activity (including briefs) A “misunderstanding” about what sentence the state could recommend under the plea agreement did not entitle Fortes to plea withdrawal or resentencing because after the misunderstanding became evident at the sentencing hearing, Fortes elected to proceed rather than seek an adjournment with a possible eye toward… Read more
State v. Johnny E. Miller, 2014AP1392-CR, 2/18/05, District 2 (1-judge opinion, ineligible for publication); case activity Miller argued that the State breached its plea agreement with him when, at sentencing, it recommended that he be eligible for the Earned Release Program only after he served a specified period of prison time. The State, he claimed… Read more
State v. William F. Bokenyi, 2014 WI 61, 7/11/14, reversing an unpublished per curiam court of appeals decision; majority opinion by Justice Ziegler; case activity In a decision that plows no new legal ground, a divided supreme court holds that a prosecutor’s remarks at sentencing did not breach the plea agreement, but were instead within the… Read more
Review of an unpublished, per curiam court of appeals decision; case activity; State’s petition for review Issues (from the State’s petition): 1. Did the prosecutor’s sentencing argument breach the plea agreement by undermining the agreed-upon sentencing recommendation? 2. Was defense counsel ineffective for failing to object to the alleged breach of the plea agreement? 3. In State v… Read more
