# Commonwealth v. Riggins

> Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · October 31, 1977 · 474 Pa. 507

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9758621

## Case

- **Full name:** COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. Billy Gene RIGGINS, Appellant
- **Court:** Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
- **Decided:** October 31, 1977
- **Citations:** 474 Pa. 507; 378 A.2d 1229
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Dissent by Manderino
- **Judges:** Jones, Eagen, O'Brien, Roberts, Pomeroy, Nix, Manderino
- **Cited by:** 12 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9758621

## Opinion text

MANDERINO, Justice,
dissenting.
I dissent. Appellant was told that “whatever sentence he received on the murder charge would be concurrent with the robbery charge. In other words . . . the time that you get on that one would be served concurrently with the murder charge.”
This was the agreement made, and appellant could reasonably expect that concurrent sentences would result. This bargain was explained and reiterated to appellant, then followed by the statement that “the Court is not bound by that agreement. We can’t tell the court how to sentence you.” This short disclaimer is not adequate to impress upon appellant that the bargain so clearly explained to him was no more than a recommendation. The colloquy as a whole creates the strong impression that appellant would receive concurrent sentences if he made the guilty plea.
The two pleas were interrelated. They arose from the same series of transactions, and indictments and arraignments on both were brought together. Sentencing on the plea of guilty to the robbery charge was deferred until disposition of the murder charge. To say that the robbery plea could not be withdrawn if the agreement broken was the murder plea bargain is absurd when the charges and the pleas were so closely related. The robbery plea and the sentence to be attached thereto were expressly incorporated into the plea bargain on the murder charge.
The pleas were a part of one bargaining process, and if breach occurred as to the robbery sentence, the appellant should be permitted to withdraw that plea.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9758621. Public record. Not legal advice.