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Statev.Lewis

CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
Docket No.S15G0666
DecidedNovember 16, 2015
Reporter298 Ga. 126; 779 S.E.2d 643
JudgesChief Justice Hugh P. Thompson authored; Justice Blackwell concurred in Division 2 and the judgment
Tags
CriminalCriminal ProcedurePlea in BarSentencingDue ProcessRemand
Case Summary

Crawford Lewis pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in exchange for dismissal of racketeering and theft charges, with the agreement conditioned on truthful testimony against his codefendants. The trial court accepted the plea but withheld sentencing, later rejected the State’s recommended probationary sentence without expressly deciding whether Lewis had testified truthfully, and imposed imprisonment. The Court of Appeals vacated the sentence and remanded, and the Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed. The Court held that a trial court retains authority to determine whether the terms of an accepted plea agreement have been satisfied and may reject the agreement when the defendant has not performed the required condition. But the court must make that determination through an appropriate evidentiary process. On remand, the trial court must decide whether Lewis testified truthfully on material matters. If he did, the court must impose the sentence promised in the agreement; if he did not, Lewis loses the benefit of the negotiated sentencing recommendation and the court may impose any lawful sentence.

Opinion

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