State v. Fischer

Citations

• 2024 ND 29

Syllabus

A district court can accept a guilty plea without accepting a plea agreement. When considering a plea agreement, the court can reject a guilty plea until it accepts the plea agreement or sentences the defendant. A defendant cannot receive the benefit of a bargained for plea agreement when the State and the defendant are not bound by the whole plea agreement. The judge's comments in court explaining his decision does not create bias when they are made before a jury is empaneled, the jury does not hear the comments, and the comments are not part of the jury's deliberations.