Sharp v. State

This case concerns the worrisome issue of whether, in imposing a sentence, a trial court impermissibly considered the defendant’s election not to plead guilty, and, more specifically, whether the trial court impermissibly considered that the defendant declined the “court’s offer” of a plea agreement.

We decide: (I) whether, here, the defendant preserved for appellate review the issue of whether the trial court impermissibly considered during sentencing the defendant’s decision not to plead guilty; and, if so, (II) whether, here, the record supports the inference that the trial court might have…