U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on Plea Bargains - Possible New Opportunities for Appeal
The U. S. Supreme Court last week ruled that attorneys are to be held to the same stardards of legal professionalism in negotiating and or handling plea offers as they are in handling trials in criminal cases. Since the great majority of criminal cases come to a resolution by a plea bargin rather than by a criminal trial, due to the vast numbers of plea cases, one would expect that a great number of appeals would arise from the holdings in these cases. In fact, Justice Scalia noted that the judicial system will be inundated by appeals as a result of these cases. (Justice Scalia voted with the minority in the cases.)
While the two cases under review, Missouri v. Frye and Lafler v. Cooper, were somewhat different in the facts presented, the result is that in handling a plea, whether it is accepted or rejected and the case goes on to trial, the attorney has duties he has to perform. The criminal attorney must present all plea offers to the client and fully explain both the
