McINTOSH

Shortly after commencement of a jury trial, Jeffrey J. McIntosh entered pleas of no contest to three felony charges and 11 other felony and two misdemeanor charges were dismissed as part of a negotiated disposition. A condition of the plea was that imposition of sentence would be suspended and McIntosh would be placed on probation on condition that he serve a year in county jail. The parties anticipated that a visiting judge who accepted the plea agreement would be able to sentence defendant, but by the time of sentencing that judge was no longer available. McIntosh sought to withdraw his plea on multiple grounds, including a contention that he was entitled to withdraw the plea under People v. Arbuckle (1978) 22 Cal.3d 749 [ 150 Cal.Rptr. 778 , 587 P.2d 220 ] (Arbuckle). The motions were denied. We affirm.

We hold that when sentencing discretion is expressly constrained by the terms of a plea agreement and the judge who accepted the plea becomes unavailable for reasons beyond the court’s or the prosecutor’s control, the defendant is not automatically entitled to withdraw his or her plea under Arbuckle in the absence of evidence that exercise of individualized judicial…