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District Clerk Cathy Stuart can recall few such rejections in Victoria County. The ones she does remember involved cases where prosecutors didn’t seek the maximum sentence after a defendant defied probation orders.
There are good reasons judges are prone to accept plea agreements, said professor George Dix, who teaches at the University of Texas School of Law.
“Judges like plea bargaining,” he said. “They like guilty pleas. Guilty pleas are much more efficient than trials.”
But if any judge would reject a plea bargain, it’s Judge Mark Luitjen, said Terry McDonald, district attorney pro tem.
Luitjen, of San Antonio, is presiding over the Michael Lewis Ratcliff case. On July 3, the former sheriff pleaded guilty to aggravated perjury.
If Luitjen accepts his plea, Ratcliff, 50, will serve 10 years of probation. In exchange, earlier charges he sexually assaulted a teenage boy will be dismissed.
Judges might be more likely to nix plea agreements in high-profile cases, Dix said.
If the public thinks a judge is approving sweetheart deals, it damages the legal system’s credibility, he said.
“If you or I get a break, who the hell cares?” he said. But, Dix noted, if a public official seems to be getting special treatment, people won’t feel like justice has been served, he said.
For example, District Judge Burt Carnes last month rejected a plea deal in which former Georgetown police Sgt. Jimmy Fennell would have spent two years in prison for pleading guilty to kidnapping and sexual misconduct.
The fact Fennell was a police officer and the case was covered in the media likely swayed Carnes decision, Dix said. Staff in Carnes office said the judge would not talk about the decision, because the case is pending.
If Luitjen rejects Ratcliff’s deal, he can re-enter a plea of not guilty, Stuart said.
From there, a new plea agreement could be made or the case could go to trial, Dix said.
Luitjen will announce his decision in the Ratcliff case on Aug. 15.
Leslie Wilber is a reporter for the Victoria Advocate. Contact her at 361-580-6521 or e-mail her at lwilber@vicad.com or comment on this story at www.VictoriaAdvocate.com