U.S. v. Simmons, s. 75-2355
Decision Date | 16 July 1976 |
Docket Number | Nos. 75-2355,75-2356,s. 75-2355 |
Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Kenneth Paul SIMMONS and Melvin Thomas Lawrence, Appellants. |
Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit |
Gerald M. Richman, Asst. Federal Public Defender, Baltimore, Md. (court appointed), for appellants.
Daniel M. Clements, Asst. U. S. Atty., Baltimore, Md. (Jervis S. Finney, U. S. Atty., Baltimore, Md., on brief), for appellee.
Before WINTER and CRAVEN, Circuit Judges, and WYZANSKI, Senior District Judge. *
Defendants, having been indicted, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§ 2113(a), (b), (d), and (f), on three counts of bank robbery, pled guilty to Count I. They were sentenced to 18 years', instead of the maximum 20 years', imprisonment. Before defendants pled guilty they entered into a bargain which is described as follows by the government at p. 3 of its brief:
After the bargain, FBI agents interviewed defendants. The prosecution determined that defendants had not made full disclosures, and that they had broken their agreement. The government so notified defendants' counsel on August 4, 1975 and said "that the Government was changing the terms and conditions of the plea agreement." September 26, the prosecutors recommended that the District Court should impose upon each defendant with respect to Count I a sentence of 18 years' imprisonment, and should dismiss Counts II and III. Without adequate evidence to support a finding that defendants had broken their plea bargains, the judge imposed sentences of 18 years' imprisonment.
Defendants appeal, contending that to set aside a judicially approved plea bargain, the prosecution may not act unilaterally but that what is requisite is that, on adequate evidence, a judge must find that there has been a substantial breach of the bargain which the court had approved. We agree with that contention, reverse the sentences, direct that the District Court, first, give the government the opportunity to...
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