Who is consulted on plea deals?

Factual Questions
1

Who is consulted in plea deal cases in which the crimes involve other civilians?

For an explanation: I’ve been reading about the resolution of the Jacob Wetterling abduction - abducted in 1989, his abductor and killer confessed today to the crimes. As part of the plea deal, he revealed where the body was and gave a confession and, instead of facing kidnapping and murder charges, as well as the 25 counts of child pornography he was to be charged with, he pled guilty to 1 of the child pornography counts and will not be charged with anything else.

In cases like this, is the family of the abducted consulted on the plea deal (generally speaking - I’m not asking about this case specifically)?

2

Victims aren’t normally consulted unless they opt to. If through the course of a trial the DA developes a relationship with the victims, the victim reaches out to the DAILY or a victims rights organization intervenes the victims may be consulted.

The victim has no official say in the deals being offered. They can only lobby for thier desired outcome.

3

It’s pretty much between the prosecutor and the defense attorney, or in a civil suit between the two attorneys (acting on behalf of clients). The client can accept or reject the deal, of course.

4

This was a federal plea deal; the state of Minnesota’s prosecutors also had to agree not to pursue state charges.

5

In my state, we have a victim’s notification statute where if a plea is reached, the victim must be contacted and given the opportunity to appear and speak at the hearing where the plea is tendered to the judge. The victim is also asked if they are due restitution. I’ve seen hearings where victims tell the court they don’t like the plea, and sometimes the judge tells the prosecutor and defense attorney to go try again.

6

And IIRC ultimately the judge can refuse the deal and tell them to go back to the table or have a trial… but how often does that happen?

7

In criminal cases, the state/county has to agree to the plea deal, since they’re the ones bringing the suit, not the family.

In civil cases, the court system doesn’t even have to be involved- they can negotiate their own settlement without even involving the judge.

8

The answer varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction but there is an increasing tendency to consult more thoroughly with the victims -or their families - of major crimes, whether its with the prosecuting authority or addressing the court or both. This doesn’t mean that they get to direct whether or not to prosecute, the prosecution strategy or sentence sought, or ultimately imposed - merely that they have a right to be heard and a right for their representation to be taken into account.

MD2000, in most jurisdictions, very rarely. I suspect the judge accepts the deal in the overwhelming majority of cases.

9

No, in a civil suit, it’s between the parties. The attorneys function as intermediaries only; they cannot agree to settle claims without their respective clients’ express approval. I have no authority to settle any of my cases without my clients’ agreement, even if I know the deal offered is fantastic and even that my client will certainly agree (though typically they will have agreed to a number beforehand and I can make binding agreements within that number).

The state has to agree to the plea deal twice: the prosecution has to negotiate it with the defendant or his attorney, and then the judge has to approve it.

Civil cases cannot always be settled without the court’s involvement. A class action settlement must be approved by the court, along with certain other types of litigation. Also, there are frequently interested nonparties in civil actions who must approve - lienholders and third party plaintiffs and CMS (the parties may have to seek approval of the settlement from Medicare) spring to mind.