Plea Bargains Are Contractual in NatureP. v. Gipson

"Plea bargains are ‘ "contractual in nature and must be measured by contract law standards." ’ . . . The application of contract law to plea agreements is premised on ‘the notion that the negotiated guilty plea represents a bargained-for quid pro quo.’ " (United States v. Escamilla (9th Cir. 1992) 975 F.2d 568, 571.) "[I]mplicit in all of this is a process of ‘bargaining’ between the adverse parties to the case-the People represented by the prosecutor on one side, the defendant represented by his counsel on the other-which bargaining results in an agreement between them." (People v. Orin (1975) 13 Cal.3d 937, 943.) "The government must fulfill any promise that it expressly or impliedly makes in exchange for a defendant’s guilty plea." (United States v. Ingram (7th Cir. 1992) 979 F.2d 1179, 1184.)

P. v. Gipson 4/20/04 CA6 H025783Three StrikesDetailed case information
Filed 4/20/04