RONALD DONALD DINGLE v. WARDEN ROBERT M. STEVENSON
US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Wilkinson, Oct. 25, 2016,
Plea Agreement – A plea in the shadow of a juvenile death penalty later held unconstitutional was still valid.

Contracts in general are a bet on the future. Plea bargains
are no different: a classic guilty plea permits a defendant to
gain a present benefit in return for the risk that he may have
to forego future favorable legal developments. Dingle received
that present benefit – avoiding the death penalty and life
without parole – under the law as it existed at the time.