People v. Arbuckle

In People v. Arbuckle (1978) 22 Cal.3d 749, 150 Cal. Rptr. 778, 587 P.2d 220, the California Supreme Court held that "whenever a judge accepts a plea bargain and retains sentencing discretion under the agreement, an implied term of the bargain is that sentence will be imposed by that judge. Because of the range of dispositions available to a sentencing judge, the propensity in sentencing demonstrated by a particular judge is an inherently significant factor in the defendant's decision to enter a guilty plea." ( Id. at pp. 756-757.) The court reversed the judgment because the case had been transferred and sentence was imposed by a judge who had not accepted the plea bargain. ( Id. at p. 757.)