State v. Lewis

Although it was the trial court's responsibility—not the State's—to determine whether the defendant breached a negotiated plea agreement by not testifying truthfully in his co-defendants' trials, the trial court failed to make an express finding on the issue when it declined to sentence the defendant in accordance with the State's recommendation, and the Court therefore vacated the sentence and remanded the case.

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We granted a petition for writ of certiorari in this case to decide, inter alia, whether the Court of Appeals erred in determining that a trial court, having agreed to accept the terms of a negotiated plea agreement between the State and a criminal defendant, retained the authority to decide whether the terms of the plea agreement had been satisfied and reject the plea agreement if they had not. See Lewis v. State, 330 Ga. App. 412 767 SE2d 771 2014. The State contends that having agreed to accept the terms of a plea bargain the State negotiated with the defendant, Crawford Lewis, the trial court subsequently lacked the authority to determine whether the terms of the parties’ plea agreement had been fulfilled absent a dispute between the parties. Because we conclude that the Court of Appeals’ opinion properly balanced the rights of the parties with respect to the enforcement of the terms of a plea agreement with the power of the trial court to reject such agreements, we affirm.

The facts giving rise to this appeal are as follows: After a DeKalb County grand jury indicted Lewis, Patricia Reid and Anthony Pope, on charges of violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations RICO Act OCGA § 16-14-4 et seq. and felony theft by taking OCGA § 16-8-2, the State offered Lewis a plea deal. In exchange for pleading guilty to one misdemeanor count of hindering and obstructing a law enforcement officer OCGA § 16-10-24 a, the State agreed to dismiss the RICO and related theft charges against Lewis, conditioned upon his testifying truthfully at the trial of his co-defendants. At the time his plea was entered, Lewis understood that if he satisfied his obligations with respect to providing truthful testimony against his co-defendants, the State would recommend to the trial court that he be sentenced to 12 months probation, a $500 fine, and 240 hours of community service. The trial court accepted Lewis’ plea, but withheld sentencing pending Lewis’ compliance with the plea terms and a final resolution in the case against his co-defendants.

State v. Lewis

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