WINNEMUCCA — The Humboldt County DA made a defendant in a drug case an offer he couldn’t refuse – then changed his mind. Robert Greaves, 25, went before the court to have the verbal plea bargain he made with the DA enforced. In denying the motion, Judge Michael Montero ruled plea agreements aren't official until they're on the record.  He denied the defendant’s motion at a  hearing held Monday (Feb. 22).

Greaves is slated to go before the jury on March 11 for a two-day trial on the single charge of felony transporting a controlled substance.

CASE REVIEW:   Greaves thought the matter was settled when he entered into a deal with the DA’s Office in which he agreed to unconditionally waive his preliminary hearing and plead guilty to a lesser charge in district court. The agreement was verbally worked out between Greaves’s attorney, Public Defender Matt Stermitz, and Chief Deputy DA Brian Williams.

Greaves testified at Monday’s hearing that shortly after he unconditionally waived his right to a preliminary hearing,  a deputy from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office  came to the detention center to take a statement from him. Greaves said he had already made a statement, was confused, and asked to call his attorney.  Greaves alleged when he made the request for his attorney the deputy said the deal was off because Greaves wouldn’t cooperate with the ongoing investigation.

Under questioning from Stermitz, Greaves said he did not understand he would have to make a statement against the second person in the car at the time he was arrested as part of the plea bargain. 

ARGUMENT:  Stermitz  filed a motion with the district court to have the verbal plea agreement enforced.  He argued the defendant’s right to a preliminary hearing within 15 days of arrest was jeopardized because he relied on the DA honoring his end of the plea bargain.

Arguing for the prosecution was Humboldt County DA Russell Smith, who quoted the defendant as acknowledging he didn’t understand what he was required to do under the agreement.

“If there’s no meeting of the minds – there’s no agreement,” Smith said.

The DA added he  was willing to make a motion to have the waiver of the preliminary hearing set aside so the matter could be remanded back to justice court for preliminary hearing.

There was some disagreement between the attorneys about whether or not that was allowable under law.

RULING:   Montero acknowledged the many legal issues at play in the  case: the right for the defendant to have a preliminary hearing within 15 days of arrest and the right to have legal representation present during interviews with law enforcement.

The judge noted other factual complexities.  While technically there is no agreement until the parties go before the court and put it on the record, the reality is deals between the prosecution and defense are frequently made  in the hallway outside the courtroom.

In this case, he noted, the DA’s Office had moved forward in the case as though the deal were in place.  “When can the parties begin to rely on the agreement?” he asked.

In narrowing the issue down, Montero said he  was sticking to the question before the court: to enforce or not enforce the plea agreement.

Ultimately he denied the defendant’s motion to have the plea bargain enforced based on case law that strongly favored the DA’s argument – there’s no deal until it’s before the court and on the record.