State v. Francis, 2017 UT 49 (August 15, 2017)

The defendant and the State had entered a plea agreement the weekend before trial was set to begin.  Before presenting that agreement to the district court, the State withdrew it on the basis the alleged victim objected to the agreement.   Relying on contract law principles, the court held that “[t]he State may withdraw from a plea bargain agreement at any time prior to, but not after, the actual entry of defendant’s guilty plea or other action by defendant constituting detrimental reliance on the agreement.”  Because there was not sufficient evidence of detrimental reliance in this case, the State could properly withdraw the agreement.