Legal Question in Criminal Law in Michigan

Re: withdrawl of plea bargain after acceptance

Some guilty pleas are conditioned on what the court's sentence will be. In these situations, the plea is premised on something happening at the sentencing and if that did not happen then he did not get the benefit of his bargain and can withdraw his plea.

In a "Killebrew plea" (named after People v Killebrew), a defendant may withdraw his plea if the judge is going to impose a sentence that is higher than what the prosecutor recommended as part of a plea agreement. For example, if the deal included the prosecuting attorney recommending a sentence that included jail as a condition of probation but the judge was going to send the defendant to prison (despite the APA's recommendation), then the defendant may withdrawn his plea.

In a "Cobbs plea" (also named after a case), the defendant has pled guilty based on the judge stating a sentencing position before the plea, regardless of what the APA might recommend for the sentence; if the judge at sentencing is going to impose a harsher sentence, then the defendant can withdraw his plea. In most Cobbs cases, the APA and defense attorney talk with the judge about the case in the judge's office, tell the judge what the case facts are, what the defendant's criminal record is, what the felony sentencing guidelines are, etc, and the judge may (but is not required to) state a general sentencing position (e.g., "lower end of the sentencing guidelines", "jail but not prison", etc.). If, after revewing the presentence report, the judge changes his/her mind and wants to impose a much different sentence, the defendant can withdraw the plea.

However, these are the minority of cases. Most plea agreements involve charging deals, not sentencing deals, because the APA can control the former and the latter brings the judge's sentencing discretion into play. So, most deals involve charges being dismissed or reduced and the defendant's sentence is not part of the terms of the deal, and then the defendant cannot freely withdraw his plea based on what the judge's sentence is.