K.R. v. Superior Court of Sacramento Cnty.

*298In 1978, this court established a basic background rule applicable to plea negotiations in criminal cases, holding that "[a]s a general principle ... whenever a judge accepts a plea bargain and retains sentencing discretion under the agreement, an implied term of the bargain is that sentence will be imposed by that judge." (People v. Arbuckle (1978) 22 Cal.3d 749, 756-757, 150 Cal.Rptr. 778, 587 P.2d 220 (Arbuckle ).) We later found the same rule applied to pleas in juvenile court. (In re Mark L. (1983) 34 Cal.3d 171, 177, 193 Cal.Rptr. 165, 666 P.2d 22 (Mark L. ).) In the ensuing years, some…