“Judges are not bound by plea agreements that prosecutors might reach.”
But that IS the agreement. He pleads guilty and gets life, not death. If the Judge were to reject that he could just get a trial. Where he MIGHT get death but he also MIGHT get a lesser sentence or he MIGHT get acquitted.
I thought that the guilty plea comes first and then the judge's sentence.I've read...or at least I *think* I've read...that when a prosecutor reaches a plea agreement all the agreement says...all that it *can* say under the law...is that if the defendant pleads guilty to "x" the prosecutor will *recommend* to the judge that the sentence be "y" but the judge is not legally bound to follow that recommendation.
Of course a lawyer could set me straight here if necessary.