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Rule 4-243 – Plea Agreements

May 13, 2021 | Criminal Prodcedure, Maryland

(a) Conditions for Agreement.

(1)Terms. The defendant may enter into an agreement with the State’s Attorney for a plea of guilty or nolo contendere on any proper condition, including one or more of the following:

(A) That the State’s Attorney will amend the charging document to charge a specified offense or add a specified offense, or will file a new charging document;
(B) That the State’s Attorney will enter a nolle prosequi pursuant to Rule 4-247(a) or move to mark certain charges against the defendant stet on the docket pursuant to Rule 4-248(a);
(C) That the State’s Attorney will agree to the entry of a judgment of acquittal on certain charges pending against the defendant;
(D) That the State will not charge the defendant with the commission of certain other offenses;
(E) That the State’s Attorney will recommend, not oppose, or make no comment to the court with respect to a particular sentence, disposition, or other judicial action;
(F) That the parties will submit a plea agreement proposing a particular sentence, disposition, or other judicial action to a judge for consideration pursuant to section (c) of this Rule.
(2)Notice to Victims. The State’s Attorney shall give prior notice, if practicable, of the terms of a plea agreement to each victim or victim’s representative who has filed a Crime Victim Notification Request form or submitted a request to the State’s Attorney pursuant to Code, Criminal Procedure Article, ยง 11-104.
(b) Recommendations of State’s Attorney on Sentencing. The recommendation of the State’s Attorney with respect to a particular sentence, disposition, or other judicial action made pursuant to subsection (a)(1)(E) of this Rule is not binding on the court. The court shall advise the defendant at or before the time the State’s Attorney makes a recommendation that the court is not bound by the recommendation, that it may impose the maximum penalties provided by law for the offense to which the defendant pleads guilty, and that imposition of a penalty more severe than the one recommended by the State’s Attorney will not be grounds for withdrawal of the plea.
(c) Agreements of Sentence, Disposition, or Other Judicial Action.

(1)Presentation to the Court. If a plea agreement has been reached pursuant to subsection (a)(1)(F) of this Rule for a plea of guilty or nolo contendere which contemplates a particular sentence, disposition, or other judicial action, the defense counsel and the State’s Attorney shall advise the judge of the terms of the agreement when the defendant pleads. The judge may then accept or reject the plea and, if accepted, may approve the agreement or defer decision as to its approval or rejection until after such pre-sentence proceedings and investigation as the judge directs.
(2)Not Binding on the Court. The agreement of the State’s Attorney relating to a particular sentence, disposition, or other judicial action is not binding on the court unless the judge to whom the agreement is presented approves it.
(3)Approval of Plea Agreement. If the plea agreement is approved, the judge shall embody in the judgment the agreed sentence, disposition, or other judicial action encompassed in the agreement or, with the consent of the parties, a disposition more favorable to the defendant than that provided for in the agreement.

Committee note: As to whether sentence imposed pursuant to an approved plea agreement may be modified on post sentence review, see Chertkov v. State, 335 Md. 161 (1994).

(4)Rejection of Plea Agreement. If the plea agreement is rejected, the judge shall inform the parties of this fact and advise the defendant (A) that the court is not bound by the plea agreement; (B) that the defendant may withdraw the plea; and (C) that if the defendant persists in the plea of guilty, conditional plea of guilty, or a plea of nolo contendere, the sentence or other disposition of the action may be less favorable than the plea agreement. If the defendant persists in the plea, the court may accept the plea of guilty only pursuant to Rule 4-242(c) and the plea of nolo contendere only pursuant to Rule 4-242(e).
(5)Withdrawal of Plea. If the defendant withdraws the plea and pleads not guilty, then upon the objection of the defendant or the State made at that time, the judge to whom the agreement was presented may not preside at a subsequent court trial of the defendant on any charges involved in the rejected plea agreement.
(d) Record of Proceedings. All proceedings pursuant to this Rule, including the defendant’s pleading, advice by the court, and inquiry into the voluntariness of the plea or a plea agreement shall be on the record. If the parties stipulate to the court that disclosure of the plea agreement or any of its terms would cause a substantial risk to any person of physical harm, intimidation, bribery, economic reprisal, or unnecessary annoyance or embarrassment, the court may order that the record be sealed subject to terms it deems appropriate.

Md. Crim. Causes. 4-243

This Rule is derived from former Rule 733 and M.D.R. 733.

Adopted April 6, 1984, eff. July 1, 1984. Amended Dec. 10, 1996, eff. July 1, 1997; Oct. 31, 2002, eff. Jan. 1, 2003; Nov. 1, 2012, eff. Jan. 1, 2013.

HISTORICAL NOTES

2002 Orders

The October 31, 2002, order, in section (a), redesignated the existing text as subsec. (a)(1) with the heading “Terms”, redesignated former subsecs. (a)(1) to (a)(6) as subsecs. (a)(1)(A) to (a)(1)(F) respectively, and added subsec. (a)(2); in the first sentence of section (b), substituted “subsection (a)(1)(E)” for “subsection (a)(5)”; and in the first sentence of subsec. (c)(1), substituted “subsection (a)(1)(F)” for “subsection (a)(6)”.

2012 Orders

The November 1, 2012, order amended (c)(4) to conform an internal reference to a proposed amendment to Rule 4-242.