Missouri v. Frye

132 S.Ct. 1399 (2012)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D was charged with driving with a revoked license. D had been convicted for that offense on three other occasions, so he was charged with a class D felony, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of four years. P sent a letter to D's counsel offering plea bargains. The first offered to recommend a 3-year sentence if there was a guilty plea to the felony charge, without a recommendation regarding probation but with a recommendation that D serve 10 days in jail as so-called 'shock' time. The second offer was to reduce the charge to a misdemeanor and, if D pleaded guilty to it, to recommend a 90-day sentence. The misdemeanor charge of driving with a revoked license carries a maximum term of imprisonment of one year. Both offers would expire on December 28. D's attorney did not advise D that the offers had been made. D was again arrested for driving with a revoked license. At the January 4 hearing, D waived his right to a preliminary hearing on the charge arising from the first arrest. He pleaded not guilty at a subsequent arraignment but then changed his plea to guilty. There was no underlying plea agreement. The trial judge sentenced D to three years in prison. P filed for post-conviction relief in state court. D testified he would have entered a guilty plea to the misdemeanor had he known about the offer. A state court denied the postconviction motion, but the Missouri Court of Appeals reversed. The court deemed D's guilty plea withdrawn and remanded to allow D either to insist on a trial or to plead guilty to any offense the prosecutor deemed it appropriate to charge. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.