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State v. Blackwell12/7/1999
ded over the years and so deeply embedded in our system of jurisprudence as an accused's right to a jury trial." State v. Boone, 293 N.C. 702, 712, 239 S.E.2d 459, 465 (1977). As such, due process mandates strict adherence to any plea agreement. Rodriguez, 111 N.C. App. at 145, 431 S.E.2d at 790. Moreover, this strict adherence "require holding the [State] to a greater degree of responsibility than the defendant (or possibly than would be either of the parties to commercial contracts) for imprecisions or ambiguities in plea agreements." United States v. Harvey, 791 F.2d 294, 300 (4th Cir. 1986). While the plea agreement here may not have been ambiguous, it was imprecise in light of what the State intended to argue at trial.
The State promised not to use the felonious impaired driving charge "as a theory of first degree murder" for its prosecution of defendant under felony murder. The defendant quite reasonably interpreted this to mean that the State promised not to use the felonious impaired driving in any way, shape, or form -- directly or derivatively -- to prove felony murder. The State suggests that defendant should have bargained for this interpretation. But defendant should not be forced to anticipate loopholes that the State might create in its own promises. Using defendant's guilty plea to felonious impaired driving to prove the underlying felony of assault is no less a violation of the plea agreement than if the State had just gone ahead and introduced evidence of the felonious impaired driving. Here, the State used defendant's plea as the same proof. Thus, even if the State did not violate the express terms of the plea agreement, it did violate the spirit of that agreement. Cf. State v. Sodders, 633 P.2d 432, 438 (Ariz. Ct. App. 1981) ("A breach of a plea agreement occurs not only when the prosecution breaks its promise, but also when the spirit of the inducement is breached."); Van Buskirk v. State, 720 P.2d 1215, 1216 (Nev. 1986) ("The violation of the terms or 'the spirit' of the plea bargain requires reversal."). We therefore hold that the State violated defendant's plea agreement.
We must next consider the remedy for this violation. At this point, it is necessary to distinguish between the various cases on appeal. Case number 97 CRS 6391 involves the felonious impaired driving and various misdemeanor charges. It is in this case that defendant tendered his plea of guilty to those charges. Case numbers 97 CRS 6390 and 97 CRS 6421 involve the felony murder and assault charges, respectively, for which defendant was found guilty. We first deal with 97 CRS 6391, the case in which the plea arrangement was entered.
" hen a prosecutor fails to fulfill promises made to the defendant in negotiating a plea bargain, the defendant's constitutional rights have been violated and he is entitled to relief." Motor Co. v. Board of Alcoholic Control, 35 N.C. App. 536, 538, 241 S.E.2d 727, 729 (1978). Typically, relief is either specific performance of the plea agreement or withdrawal of the plea itself (i.e. rescission). Santobello v. New York, 404 U.S. 257, 263, 30 L. Ed. 2d 427, 433 (1971). While this Court has in the past determined the particular remedy, see, e.g., State v. Isom, 119 N.C. App. 225, 458 S.E.2d 420 (1995) (ordering rescission); State v. Rodriguez, 111 N.C. App. 141, 431 S.E.2d 788 (1993) (ordering specific performance), the trial court is usually in the best position to determine which remedy is appropriate under the circumstances. Santobello, 40 U.S. at 263, 30 L. Ed. 2d at 433. Though we do not doubt the trial court's ability to choose the appropriate remedy, we feel the nature of this case and the peculiar plea arrangement here warrant further guidance for the trial cou
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