Murphy v. Commonwealth

I write separately because I believe the majority’s opinion creates needless uncertainty in the law governing plea agreements. Is a criminal defendant legally bound by any of the terms of his plea agreement before the agreement is presented to and accepted by the trial court? Before today, the answer to this question was a straightforward no. Now it is a more nebulous maybe. However, I agree that the majority reaches the correct result, albeit for the wrong reason, because, in my view, Code § 18.2-262’s grant of transactional immunity applies only to witnesses who give compelled testimony.…