United States v. Costa

As indicated in my opinion in United States v. Cross, 19 M.J. 973 (ACMR 1985), I believe that clauses in pretrial agreements like the one in question violate public policy except where an accused voluntarily initiates the inclusion of the contested clause. As in Cross, this case was tried in a jurisdiction where the clause was routinely required by the Government as a prerequisite to any pretrial agreement and the record contains no reliable evidence that appellant initiated the clause. Therefore, I would hold that the clause violated public policy.

With respect to whether appellant suffered…