THOMPSON, Chief Justice.
We granted a petition for writ of certiorari in this case to decide, inter alia, whether the Court of Appeals erred in determining that a trial court, having agreed to accept the terms of a negotiated plea agreement between the State and a criminal defendant, retained the authority to decide whether the terms of the plea agreement had been satisfied and reject the plea agreement if they had not. See Lewis v. State, 330 Ga.App. 412, 767 S.E.2d 771 (2014). The State contends that having agreed to accept the terms of a plea bargain the State negotiated with the defendant, Crawford Lewis, the trial court subsequently lacked the authority to determine whether the terms of the parties' plea agreement had been fulfilled absent a dispute between the parties. Because we conclude that the Court of Appeals' opinion properly balanced the rights of the parties with respect to the enforcement of the terms of a plea agreement with the power of the trial court to reject such agreements, we affirm.
The facts giving rise to this appeal are as follows: After a DeKalb County grand jury indicted Lewis, Patricia Reid and Anthony Pope, on charges of violating Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act (OCGA § 16-14-4 et seq.) and felony theft by taking (OCGA § 16-8-2), the State offered Lewis a plea deal. In exchange for pleading guilty to one misdemeanor count of hindering and obstructing a law enforcement officer (OCGA § 16-10-24(a)), the State agreed to dismiss the RICO and related theft charges against Lewis, conditioned upon his testifying truthfully at the trial of his co-defendants. At the time his plea was entered, Lewis understood that if he satisfied his obligations with respect to providing truthful testimony against his co-defendants, the State would recommend to the trial court that he be sentenced to 12 months probation, a $500 fine, and 240 hours of community service. The trial court accepted Lewis' plea, but withheld sentencing pending Lewis' compliance with the plea terms and a final resolution in the case against his co-defendants.
As required by the terms of the plea agreement, Lewis waived his Fifth Amendment rights and testified at the trial of Reid and Pope, who were convicted. Thereafter, at the sentencing hearing, the State proffered that Lewis had complied with the conditions of the plea bargain by testifying truthfully, and asked the trial court to impose the agreed upon sentence. Without specifically addressing the question of whether Lewis' trial testimony had been truthful, the trial court rejected the State's sentencing recommendation and announced its intention to sentence Lewis to 12 months to serve. The trial court then gave Lewis an opportunity to withdraw his plea and proceed to trial, but he chose not to do so. The trial court sentenced Lewis to 12 months imprisonment, denied his request for supersedeas bond, and remanded him into state custody. The next day, Lewis' attorneys filed an emergency motion seeking reconsideration of his sentence,
At the hearing on the emergency motion, the trial court pointed to language in the guilty plea transcript showing that Lewis clearly had been advised that the court was not bound by any of the State's promises or
On appeal, Lewis argued that the trial court, having accepted the negotiated plea agreement, erred in refusing to sentence him in accordance with its terms. Lewis asserted, and the State agreed, that he had testified truthfully as required by the plea conditions. Because neither party to the agreement disputed that this condition had been met, Lewis claimed the trial court had no authority to refuse to impose the agreed upon probationary sentence.
After reviewing the transcript of the plea hearing, the Court of Appeals found that the trial court, in accepting Lewis' guilty plea, had agreed to sentence him in conformity with the terms of the negotiated plea agreement, provided that he testify truthfully at the trial of his co-defendants. See Lewis, supra, 330 Ga.App. at 414, 767 S.E.2d 771. Noting that Lewis had detrimentally relied on the trial court's acceptance of the plea bargain by waiving his constitutional rights in order to testify on behalf of the State, the Court of Appeals concluded that Lewis was entitled to specific performance of the plea terms previously accepted by the trial court, if he had, in fact, testified truthfully. Id. The Court of Appeals also observed, however, that, although both the State and Lewis claimed Lewis' testimony had been truthful, the trial court apparently disagreed. Recognizing the need to ensure the fairness and integrity of Lewis' plea bargain, the Court of Appeals vacated Lewis' sentence and remanded the case to the trial court for an evidentiary hearing for the purpose of determining whether Lewis had fulfilled his obligation of testifying truthfully. Id. at 415, 767 S.E.2d 771.
The State filed a petition for certiorari, which we granted, asserting that the Court of Appeals erred by finding that the trial court could refuse to adhere to the terms of the parties' negotiated plea agreement which the court had previously accepted, despite both parties agreeing the plea terms had been satisfied.
1. We note, as an initial matter, that both the State and Lewis have an interest in seeing that their bargained for plea agreement is accepted and enforced by the trial court in this case. To this end, the parties phrase their arguments challenging the trial court's actions in terms of general contract principles to be applied to a simple contract between the State and Lewis and in which, they argue, the trial court has no interest. These arguments, however, give little or no consideration to the authority and constitutional responsibility of a trial court in the sentencing of a criminal defendant who has entered into a plea agreement with the State and specifically ignore the trial court's acceptance of the plea agreement in this case. With that in mind, as discussed further below, we reject the broad proposition posited by the parties that once a trial court accepts a plea agreement in a criminal prosecution, it has no authority to determine whether the parties to that agreement, either the State or the defendant, have complied with its terms and no authority to reject the plea agreement and agreed upon sentence based on one party's lack of performance if the other party does not complain of the lack of performance.
2. In order to address the parties' specific arguments and the issues identified in our grant of certiorari, we first must establish the terms of the plea agreement between Lewis and the State and the trial court's acceptance thereof. In that regard, the parties do not dispute that the State, Lewis, and the trial court all understood that the State's agreement to reduce the charges against Lewis and to recommend to the trial court a sentence of 12 months probation was contingent upon Lewis testifying truthfully in the State's prosecution of his co-defendants. It is also beyond reasonable dispute that the trial court's acceptance of the negotiated plea
3. Although both the plea agreement between Lewis and the State and the trial court's sentencing commitment were conditioned upon the giving of the same truthful testimony, the State, at Lewis' sentencing hearing, took the position that Lewis had in all aspects complied with his obligations under the plea agreement. The trial court, in apparent disagreement, considered Lewis' testimony at trial to be not credible and unbelievable and imposed a sentence which differed from the sentence it had agreed to impose had Lewis complied with the plea terms. Thus, the issue before the Court of Appeals and now before this Court is "whether Lewis, after relying on the plea agreement [and the trial court's acceptance of that agreement] to his detriment ha[d] a right to force the trial court to adhere to the terms of the negotiated plea that it had earlier accepted." Lewis, 330 Ga.App. at 413, 767 S.E.2d 771. And, if he had such a right, did the trial court have the authority to determine that Lewis breached the plea agreement in the absence of a claim of breach by the State. The parties assert that because the trial court was not a party to the plea agreement, it had no independent role in determining whether the plea agreement's conditions had been met. It follows, they contend, that because the State was satisfied Lewis had fulfilled his obligations under the negotiated plea agreement, Lewis was entitled to specific performance of the plea terms. We disagree.
It is now beyond question that the plea bargaining process is an essential component in the effective administration of criminal justice. See Santobello v. New York, 404 U.S. 257, 261, 92 S.Ct. 495, 30 L.Ed.2d 427 (1971); State v. Hanson, 249 Ga. 739, 746, 295 S.E.2d 297 (1982). Although, under Georgia law, a trial court does not participate in plea negotiations and is not a party to any plea agreement or contract that may be reached, the court, nonetheless, plays an active role in overseeing the performance of such agreements.
At the same time, once a plea agreement has been sanctioned by the trial court, it is incumbent on the court to ensure that the defendant receives that to which he or she is reasonably entitled. See Santobello, 404 U.S. at 262, 92 S.Ct. 495. See, e.g., State v. Hanson, 249 Ga. at 740, 295 S.E.2d 297 ("Where the defendant relinquishes valuable constitutional rights in exchange for immunity, the question of enforcement of the bargain has constitutional overtones."). As stated by the Supreme Court in Santobello, the validity of the plea bargaining process "presupposes fairness in securing an agreement between an accused and a prosecutor." 404 U.S. at 261, 92 S.Ct. 495. The Court explained that
Santobello, supra at 262, 92 S.Ct. 495. See United States v. Boatner, 966 F.2d 1575, 1580 (11th Cir.1992). Although Santobello involved the breach of a plea bargain by the prosecution, we find the principle recognized in that case, that both the plea bargaining process and the adjudicative element inherent in accepting a plea of guilty must involve safeguards to insure that the defendant receives that which he or she was promised, is equally applicable in cases where it is the trial court that is alleged to have breached a promise on which the entry of the plea rests. In both instances, the policy interest of establishing trust between the defendant, prosecutors, and the trial court serves the same purpose, sustaining "plea bargains—an `essential' and `highly desirable' part of the criminal process."
Lewis, 330 Ga.App. at 414, 767 S.E.2d 771.
Consistent with the principles of fairness recognized in Santobello, we thus conclude that as a general rule, where a defendant has performed under the terms of a negotiated plea agreement to his or her detriment
Here, Lewis relied on the trial court's conditional acceptance of the negotiated plea terms to his detriment by waiving his Fifth Amendment rights and giving sworn, inculpatory testimony at the trial of his co-defendants. Having been induced to incriminate himself by promises both made and ratified by the trial court, Lewis was prejudiced thereby and cannot be made whole simply by being allowed to withdraw his guilty plea. We agree with the Court of Appeals that, under the unique circumstances presented in this case, Lewis would be entitled to specific performance of the negotiated plea terms previously accepted by the trial court, if he testified truthfully on the State's behalf at trial.
4. Of course, a trial court is clearly authorized to set aside a plea bargain based on a defendant's breach. See Simmons v. State, 292 Ga. 265, 267, 736 S.E.2d 402 (2013); Brown v. State, 261 Ga.App. 115, 118, 582 S.E.2d 13 (2003) (rescission of plea agreement was appropriate remedy where defendant's failure to testify truthfully at co-defendant's trial was a violation of the plea agreement). As a result, if the trial court found Lewis materially breached the plea agreement by failing to provide truthful testimony, the court would be relieved of its duty to sentence Lewis according to the State's recommendation, regardless of any consequences Lewis might suffer as a result of his partial performance. Id. See People v. Augustine, 265 A.D.2d 671, 697 N.Y.S.2d 698, 700 (1999) (specific enforcement of plea agreement not mandated where defendant deliberately breached the agreement, despite impossibility of returning defendant to "status quo ante" by permitting withdrawal of the plea). See also Ricketts v. Adamson, 483 U.S. 1, 10, 107 S.Ct. 2680, 97 L.Ed.2d 1 (1987) (defendant's breach of a plea agreement removed double jeopardy bar to prosecuting him on the original charges where defendant knew the consequences of his breach of his promise to testify).
The State asserts that it has sole discretion to determine whether Lewis violated the terms of the plea agreement. The parties, however, cannot avoid judicial oversight of plea agreements. Citing due process concerns, numerous courts have held that it is the responsibility of the trial court, not the state, to determine whether a plea agreement has been breached. See United States v. Guzman, 318 F.3d 1191, 1196 (10th Cir. 2003) ("[T]he government may not unilaterally declare a breach of a plea agreement; a court must hold a hearing and make a finding that the defendant breached the agreement before the government is released from its obligations under the agreement."); United States v. Ataya, 864 F.2d 1324, 1329-30
As stated previously, plea agreements are an essential part of the criminal justice process, and although the prosecution may have reason to believe a defendant has satisfied his or her obligations or, on occasion, may possess a valid reason for choosing to overlook or ignore a defendant's breach of a plea agreement, it remains the primary duty of the trial court "to ensure not only that the terms of the [plea] bargain are understood by the defendant but that they are adhered to by both sides, as well as by the court itself." Yesil, supra, 991 F.2d at 1532 (quoting United States v. Blackwell, 694 F.2d 1325, 1339 (D.C.Cir.1982)). The parties, by contract or acquiescence, simply cannot eliminate their own burden of proving compliance with the terms of a plea agreement or the trial court's oversight of the plea bargaining process and its inherent power to protect the integrity of the judicial system. See Mooney v. Holohan, 294 U.S. 103, 112, 55 S.Ct. 340, 79 L.Ed. 791 (1935) (the deliberate deception of court and jury by the presentation of testimony known to be perjured violates the fundamental conceptions of justice). See also Williams v. State, 250 Ga. 463, 465, 298 S.E.2d 492 (1983) ("[W]e cannot and will not approve corruption of the truth-seeking function of the trial process."); Ritsema, supra at 401-402 (plea agreement may be rescinded based on the defendant's breach of plea bargain to preserve the integrity of the judicial process); United States v. Britt, 917 F.2d 353, 355 n. 2, 359 (8th Cir.1990) (inherent power to protect integrity of the judicial process authorized trial court to vacate guilty plea it had previously accepted where, prior to sentencing, defendant willfully failed to fulfill his obligation to testify truthfully at co-defendant's trial).
5. Finally, we address the propriety of the Court of Appeals' decision to vacate Lewis' sentence and remand this case to the trial court for an evidentiary hearing on the issue of whether Lewis breached the plea agreement. Although the trial court gave various reasons for imposing a harsher sentence on Lewis than that recommended by the State,
It will be necessary, as part of that process, for the trial court to determine whether Lewis testified truthfully at the trial of his co-defendants as to all material matters. Should the trial court find, after consideration of the record, the parties' arguments, and the evidence, that Lewis did not testify truthfully, Lewis will lose the benefit of the negotiated sentencing agreement and the court will be relieved of its duty to impose the promised probationary sentence.
Judgment affirmed.
All the Justices concur, except BLACKWELL, J., who concurs in Division 2 and the judgment.