Criteria for Specific Performance of Plea Agreement Explained

The Fourth Department noted the criteria for a defendant’s right to specific performance of a plea agreement (criteria not met in this case):
“ ‘The remedy of specific performance in the context of plea agreements applies where a defendant has been placed in a no-return position in reliance on the plea agreement . . . , such that specific performance is warranted as a matter of essential fairness’ ” … Inasmuch as neither the prosecution nor the defense had taken any action on the second plea agreement …defendant was not placed in a “ ‘no-return position’ ” in reliance on the second plea agreement and is thus not entitled to specific performance of that agreement… . People v Weather, KA 11-01247, 482, 4th Dept, 5-3-13