Bonilla v. State

JAMES P. SALMON (Retired, Specially Assigned), J.

This case has an unusual procedural background that presents us with the following issue: If a judge imposes a sentence that is less than the sentence agreed upon by the judge, the prosecutor and the defendant in an ABA plea agreement, 1 may another judge, pursuant to Md. Rule 4-345(a), later increase that sentence? We shall answer “yes” to that question.

I

UNDISPUTED FACTS

In 1989, Tommy Garcia Bonilla (“Bonilla”) was indicted by a Prince George’s County grand jury on two counts of first-degree murder and numerous other serious crimes. Count I of…