State v. Smith

Opinion by

Moylan, J.

The key to our resolution of this State appeal was sounded 82 years ago by Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Nathan Cardozo:

“[Jjustice, though due to the accused, is due to the accuser also. The concept of fairness must not be strained till it is narrowed to a filament. We are to keep the balance true.”

Snyder v. Massachusetts, 291 U.S. 97, 122, 54 S.Ct. 330, 78 L.Ed. 674 (1934).

The Playing Field is Level

As we seek to answer Justice Cardozo’s call “to keep the balance true,” our attention turns in the case now before us to the contractual integrity of plea agreements. A plea…