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Rejection of Plea Agreement OK Despite Court's Receipt of Undisclosed Victim Impact Evidence

By Shari Allison

U.S. v. Rakes, 2007 WL 4510264 (12/26/07)(Published) - The 10th acknowledges the defendant's arguments "have force," but rejects them all. The 10th affirms the d.ct.'s rejection of the defendant's plea agreement that would have resulted in a sentence of 9 months [after trial, the defendant ended up with a sentence of 63 months!), where, prior to the plea rejection, and unbeknownst to the defendant, the victim, who was an AUSA, had written to the judge explaining the impact on her of the defendant's threatening letter. The d.ct. rejected the plea based on the "very real victim impact presented by this case." Rule 32(i)(1)(B), which requires disclosure of information upon which the judge will rely for sentencing, does not require disclosure of evidence relied upon to reject a plea agreement...continue to full post

Full post as published by Tenth Circuit Blog on January 03, 2008 (boomark / email).