NCJ Number
125692
Editor(s)
L L Weinreb
Date Published
1990
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This chapter presents two edited, leading U.S. Supreme Court decisions involving plea bargaining.
Abstract
In Brady v. United States (1970), the petitioner sought relief, claiming that his guilty plea was not voluntarily given since the statute under which he was charged carried a possible death penalty, thus encouraging a guilty plea to reduce the sentence. The petitioner also claimed his counsel exerted impermissible pressure on him and his plea was induced by representations regarding the reduction of sentence and clemency. The Supreme Court affirms the standard for the voluntariness of guilty pleas defined by the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Under this standard, voluntariness exists when the defendant is fully aware of the direct consequences of the plea including the actual value of any commitments made by the court, prosecutor, or his own counsel, but absent any threats, misrepresentation, or inappropriate promises. The Court ruled that Brady's plea was voluntary under this standard. In North Carolina v. Alford (1970), the Supreme Court addressed the ruling of the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit that Alford's guilty plea was invalid because it was made to avoid the possibility of the death penalty. The Supreme Court reversed this decision, holding that Alford reasonably and voluntarily chose to plead guilty to second-degree murder rather than face a trial for first-degree murder given the significant evidence of guilt. 11 footnotes.