People v. Leitner

I respectfully dissent.

Defendant’s sole contention on appeal is that his plea-based conviction resulted from an illusory plea bargain and, therefore, must be reversed. In exchange for defendant’s agreement to plead guilty as charged, the trial judge promised that the maximum minimum sentence he would impose would be ten years. The judge carefully explained that, should the presentence investigation report convince him that a ten-year minimum was too lenient, the defendant would have the option of withdrawing his plea. In addition, the prosecutor indicated that, if the defendant pled guilty,…