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Another notable example of capital plea bargaining

By Douglas A. Berman

Thanks to this post at C&C, I saw this news article from Utah describing another case in which the threat of the death penalty helped secure a ready and efficient resolution to a murder charge.  Here are the basics from the start of the news report: A Sanpete County man avoided the death penalty Thursday by admitting to strangling his former girlfriend in April, and then killing a man he hated. Donald Bret Richardson pleaded guilty in 6th District Court to two counts of first-degree felony aggravated murder. As part of a plea deal, prosecutors agreed to recommend that Richardson, 48, serve life in prison without the possibility of parole. Defense attorneys James Valdez and McCaye Christianson said Thursday the resolution accomplished their goal of saving Richardson's life...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on November 15, 2008 (boomark / email).