11 March 2007

A Plea Agreement

Every prosecutor's office does plea agreements a little different. I've been to a jurisdiction where all 20 prosecutors use the same generic form; I've been to a single prosecutor jurisdiction where the plea agreement includes 3 or 4 pages wherein the defendant has to acknowledge all the questions the judge would ask before he accepted the guilty plea; I've seen plea agreements which are pretyped with blanks so that the actual agreement conditions could just be hand written.

Around here, each prosecutor has his own version of a plea agreement. I thought I'd share the form that I've developed. This is a plea agreement for someone who is charged with 4 counts in two indictments and who has enough of a record that the guidelines call for a sentence between 7 months and 1 year and 1 month with a midpoint of 10 months.

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VIRGINIA:‭
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF PITCAIRN COUNTY/CITY OF SHIRE


COMMONWEALTH‭ v. JOHN SMITH

Case No:‭ ‬F06-123 & F06-124



PLEA AGREEMENT


Come now the Defendant,‭ John Smith‬,‭ ‬his legal counsel,‭ Joe Jones‬,‭ ‬and the Commonwealth Attorney and,‭ ‬pursuant to‭ ‬3A:8‭(‬c‭)(‬1‭)(‬C‭) ‬enter into the following plea agreement.‭

Charges:

A. Maximum Sentence: In total, the defendant faces up to 50 years in prison.

B. Indictments and Counts:
F06-123

Count 1: Forging a check, carrying a penalty of up to 10 years
Count 2: Uttering a check, carrying a penalty of up to 10 years

F06-124

Count 1: Grand Larceny, carrying a penalty of up to 20 years
Count 2: Possession of cocaine, carrying a penalty of up to 10 years
The Commonwealth:

A. Amendments: The Commonwealth agrees to amend the following counts.
F06-124

Count 2: Amended to possession of marijuana, carrying a maximum penalty of up to 12 months.
B. Motion for Nolle Prosequi: The Commonwealth, after the defendant has pled guilty to indictment 123 count 1 and indictment 124 counts 1 and 2, agrees to move for nolle prosequi of indictment 123 count 2.


The Defendant:‭

A. Plea: The defendant agrees to‭ ‬plead guilty to‭ count 1 of indictment F06-123 and counts 1 and 2 of F06-124.

B. Stipulation of Facts: The defendant stipulates that jurisdiction is appropriate and the facts which the Commonwealth would show at trial are sufficient to convict him beyond a reasonable doubt.

C. Sentence: The defendant shall serve an active sentence of 10 months incarceration and have a suspended sentence of 5 years.
1. On the sole count of check forgery (indictment 123 count 1) the defendant shall be sentenced to 5 years incarceration under the supervision of the Virginia Department of Corrections with 5 years suspended.

2. On the sole count of grand larceny (indictment 124 count 1) the defendant shall be sentenced to 5 years incarceration under the supervision of the Virginia Department of Corrections with 5 years suspended.

3. The sentences imposed in the forgery and grand larceny convictions shall run concurrently.

4. On F06-124 count 4 (possession of marijuana) the defendant shall be sentenced to 10 months incarceration in the Pitcairn Regional Jail.
D. Probation: After serving the period of incarceration, the term of probation shall be for‭ 5 ‬years under the following conditions:
1.‭ Supervised Probation: ‬The defendant shall submit to no less than two years of supervised probation. After two years the defendant may be removed from supervised probation at the discretion of the probation officer.


a. Defendant acknowledges that he shall not be released from supervised probation until court costs and fines have been repaid. If defendant does not make regular payments his probation officer can require him to participate in the work program to pay fines and costs.


b. Defendant acknowledges that he shall not be released from supervised probation until he has paid restitution in the following amounts:
Smith Market $350.00


Jones' Shoeshine $75.00
The probation officer shall determine the amount of restitution which shall be paid each month.


2. Unsupervised Probation: The defendant shall serve the remainder of the 5 years on unsupervised probation.

3. While on probation the defendant shall remain drug free and subject himself to any drug test required by a probation or law enforcement officer. If the defendant fails a drug test he shall be, at the option of the judge,
a. Sentenced to no less than 1 year of his suspended time imposed, or


b. Required to enter and complete the Day Reporting Center drug treatment program.
4.‭ ‬The defendant shall keep the peace,‭ ‬be of good behavior,‭ ‬not violate the laws of Virginia,‭ ‬her Sister States,‭ ‬or the federal government.
a. If the defendant is convicted of larceny or forgery while on probation he shall be sentenced to no less than 2 years of his suspended time imposed.

b. No sentence imposed pursuant to this subsection shall be resuspended or run concurrent with any other sentence.
5.‭ ‬From the date of this agreement until the completion the probation period,‭ ‬the defendant waives all search and seizure rights as they pertain to his or her person,‭ ‬automobile,‭ ‬residence,‭ ‬etc.,‭ ‬and shall permit law enforcement officers to search same without first establishing probable cause.
E. Further Stipulations:
1.‭ ‬The defendant understands that‭ ‬possession of a firearm is a felony and unlawful possession of a firearm within 10 years of this conviction will result in a mandatory prison sentence.

2.‭ ‬The defendant agrees that he or she is‭ ‬satisfied‭ ‬with the services of his or her‭ ‬attorney and that‭ ‬no circuit court judge has participated‭ ‬in this agreement.

3.‭ ‬The defendant understands that the defendant‭ ‬waives the right to a‭ ‬public and‭ ‬speedy trial by jury,‭ ‬the right to‭ ‬confront witnesses and the right to requirement of‭ ‬proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

4.‭ ‬The defendant‭ ‬pleads guilty without threat or promises from any source other than this plea.
The following parties all agree to this plea agreement:

[signatures]

Defendant‭         ‬                 ‬   ‬‬         ‬ Date‭


Defense Counsel‭         ‬          ‬ Commonwealth Attorney


         ‬ Judge

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