People v. Gutierrez CA1/5

DISCUSSION

I. No Showing of Error in Rejection of the Plea Agreement

During a break on the first day of testimony, the parties informed the court that they had reached a negotiated disposition. Appellant would plead guilty to inflicting corporal injury on M.M. and admit one of the prior strike convictions in exchange for an 18-year sentence. The trial court rejected the agreement based on statutory limits on plea bargaining. The court explained, “Pursuant to . . . section 667, prior strikes shall not be used in plea bargaining unless such a dismissal is either, one, in the furtherance of justice; or two, there’s insufficient evidence to prove the prior. And pursuant to . . . section 1192.7, after an [i]nformation is filed, serious felonies may not be dismissed . . . unless there is insufficient evidence to prove the People’s case, testimony of a material witness cannot be obtained[,] or reduction or

3 dismissal would not result in a substantial change in the sentence. [¶] I don’t . . . find that it would be in the furtherance of justice to dismiss any strikes. And further, I don’t find that any plea bargaining would be appropriate in this case given there are a number of…