§853a Art. 53a. Plea Agreements

Summary

The convening authority and the accused can make a plea deal any time before findings are announced under section 853 (article 53). The military judge must not take part in talks about what the plea deal will say. If special trial counsel has authority under section 824a (article 24a), only that special trial counsel and the accused can make a plea deal for those charges. The military judge must accept a plea deal the parties submit, but can reject it in some cases. The judge may refuse a deal that proposes a sentence the judge finds clearly unreasonable, whether or not a sentencing parameter was set under section 539E(e) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022. The judge must also reject any deal if a part of it was not agreed to by both sides, if the accused does not understand it, if it breaks a law or a Presidential regulation, or if it gives a sentence below a mandatory minimum for an offense in section 856(b)(2) (except limited exceptions). For those offenses, the judge may accept a deal that gives a bad-conduct discharge, and may accept a below-minimum sentence if the trial counsel recommends it because the accused gave substantial help. Once the judge accepts the plea, it binds the parties, the convening authority, the special trial counsel (if involved), and the court-martial.