Plea bargain accepted but criminal charges filed

[legal_sec]

I was just informed of a criminal case here in Oklahoma wherein the defendant accepted a plea bargain from the prosecution only to have the prosecution come back later with additional criminal charges for the same crime? Is this legal? Does anyone know of any case laws or common laws that have been violated in this area? Where do I find laws governing the prosecution in their offering of pleas? Any help would be greatly appreciated as I know this is something I'm going to have to be researching.

 

[TomHartmann]

I was just informed of a criminal case here in Oklahoma wherein the defendant accepted a plea bargain from the prosecution only to have the prosecution come back later with additional criminal charges for the same crime? Is this legal? Does anyone know of any case laws or common laws that have been violated in this area? Where do I find laws governing the prosecution in their offering of pleas? Any help would be greatly appreciated as I know this is something I'm going to have to be researching.

What was the orginal charge and what were additional charges?

 

[legal_sec]

Here's the scenario as told to me: The guy was pulled over and upon being pulled over they discovered a small amount of Marjuana, a hand gun and that he was on probation. The D.A.'s office offered a plea bargain for the charges of which the defendent accepted. A week after accepting the charges the D.A.'s office filed a felony charge on the possession of a hand gun.

 

[TomHartmann]

Here's the scenario as told to me: The guy was pulled over and upon being pulled over they discovered a small amount of Marjuana, a hand gun and that he was on probation. The D.A.'s office offered a plea bargain for the charges of which the defendent accepted. A week after accepting the charges the D.A.'s office filed a felony charge on the possession of a hand gun.

I now know why DA filed a felony charge because of possible two reasons. The person was a convicted felon which he cannot legally have a weapon in his possesion OR he was already on the probation which he also cannot have a weapon. Just because he was offered a plea bargain on drugs, there is an additional charge for weapon as well.

 

[seniorjudge]

Here's the scenario as told to me: The guy was pulled over and upon being pulled over they discovered a small amount of Marjuana, a hand gun and that he was on probation. The D.A.'s office offered a plea bargain for the charges of which the defendent accepted. A week after accepting the charges the D.A.'s office filed a felony charge on the possession of a hand gun.

This is legal unless the defendant had a written plea agreement with the prosecutor stating otherwise. And smart prosecutors never make written plea agreements.

 

[legal_sec]

Yes, he was on probation (earlier post) but the plea bargain was supposedly for the possession of a controlled substance, violation of parole and possession of the handgun. The plea agreement was in writing with the D.A. but I do not have a copy of it to read. My question is if the D.A. offers a plea bargain and it is accepted would it be legal to later come back and file felony charges on the handgun. I would think this is unethical since it was thought to be covered in the original plea agreement and the D.A. made no further mention of possibly filing other charges in the case.

 

[seniorjudge]

Q: My question is if the D.A. offers a plea bargain and it is accepted would it be legal to later come back and file felony charges on the handgun.

A: It would depend on what the written plea bargain said; yours is a hypothetical question, so I cannot answer it.