Case Citation: The Bordenkircher v. Hayes (1978) case was between Don Bordenkircher, the plaintiff, and Paul Lewis Hayes, the defendant. The Supreme Court of the United States was the court that decided the case and the decision was made on January 18, 1978. Facts: Paul Lewis Hayes was charged with forgery in Kentucky, which typically carries a sentence of two to ten years in prison. During plea bargaining, the prosecutor offered Hayes a deal, that if Hayes pleaded guilty to the charge, he would get a five-year sentence. However, if Hayes refused the plea deal, the prosecutor would seek an indictment under the Kentucky Habitual Criminal Act, which would lead to Hayes getting a mandatory life sentence due to his prior felony convictions. Hayes ended up …show more content…
Issue(s): Does a prosecutor violate a defendant's Fourteenth Amendment right to due process by threatening to seek a more severe indictment if the defendant refuses to plead guilty to the original charge? Procedural History: In the lower courts, Hayes was initially charged with forgery, which typically carried a sentence of two to ten years in prison. Hayes was offered a plea deal during the bargaining process but ended up declining the deal. This caused him to be indicted under the Kentucky Habitual Criminal Act, which led to him receiving a longer sentence due to his prior convictions. The issue was decided by the trial court in favor of the prosecution. In the intermediate appellate court, the case was decided in favor of the prosecution and trial court decision. The intermediate appellate court decided that the prosecutor’s actions during plea bargaining to seek a more severe indictment after Hayes was made aware of the consequences and refused the plea deal were not a due process violation. The case then went to the Kentucky Supreme