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Fascinating district court refusal to accept a (coercive?) plea deal

By Douglas A. Berman

A helpful reader sent me copy of a fascinating five-page district court ruling from earlier this week in US v. Taliaferro, No. 08-cr-7-1-SM (D.N.H. Sept 1, 2009) (available for download below). The start and end of the order highlights why the full order is a must-read and why I look forward to hearing from commentors about the ruling: In this case, the government has effectively removed the court from the sentencing process, and dictated the sentence to be imposed. Exercising its considerable charging discretion in the context of applicable statutory mandatory minimum sentences, the government extended an offer that the defendant could hardly refuse: be subjected to a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison, or accept a binding plea agreement providing for a sentence of 15 years (based upon a drug charge carrying a mandatory minimum of 10 years, with the government declining to file a notice of prior conviction under 21 U...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on September 04, 2009 (boomark / email).