Judge makes surprising rejection of plea deal

In a highly unusual move, a federal judge in West Virginia has rejected a plea deal for a man accused of dealing heroin and fentanyl, arguing that “the secrecy surrounding plea bargains in heroin and opioid cases frequently undermines respect for the law and deterrence of crime.”

In his ruling, district judge for the southern district of West Virginia Joseph R. Goodwin notes the severity of the opioid epidemic in West Virginia, saying the crisis amounts to “a cancer that has grown and metastasized in the body politic of the United States.”

He argues that given this context, “the bright light of the jury trial deters crime, enhances respect for the law, educates the public, and reinforces their sense of safety much more than a contract entered into in the shadows of a private meeting in the prosecutor’s office.”

While judges have the authority to reject such bargains, in practice they rarely do. In 2016, 97.3 percent of all federal criminal cases were resolved with a plea bargain, according to the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

Goodwin’s ruling came as a shock to the prosecution and defense teams. “This is the first time anything like this has happened in 25 years” of practicing law, said Lex Coleman, a federal public defender for Charles York Walker Jr., the man at the center of the case.

Walker was indicted by a federal grand jury last September on three counts of distributing heroin, two counts of distributing fentanyl, and one count of “being a felon in possession of a firearm.”

Goodwin gives an impassioned defense of the role of the jury in serving this public interest:

“The jury trial reveals the dark details of drug distribution and abuse to the community in a way that a plea bargained guilty plea cannot.”

Walker’s lawyer, Rex Coleman, declined to comment on the specifics of this case. But he said that Walker and his defense team are weighing their options for how to proceed.