Guide
Documenting plea offers after Missouri v. Frye and Lafler v. Cooper
Updated 2026-09-18 · 3 min read
Missouri v. Frye and Lafler v. Cooper (both 2012) established that the Sixth Amendment right to effective counsel applies to plea offers. Frye noted that making formal offers in writing, or placing them on the record, helps guard against later claims about what was offered. A prosecution office that records each formal offer's terms, approval, expiration and conveyance is in a better position when that history is questioned.
What the two cases said
In Missouri v. Frye, 566 U.S. 134 (2012), the Supreme Court held that defense counsel generally has a duty to communicate formal offers from the prosecution to accept a plea on terms that may be favorable to the accused. The Court also observed that the prosecution and trial courts may adopt measures to help ensure against late, frivolous or fabricated claims, and pointed to putting formal offers in writing and making them part of the record. In Lafler v. Cooper, 566 U.S. 156 (2012), decided the same day, the Court held that a defendant who rejected a plea offer because of deficient advice from counsel, and then received a harsher result after trial, can show prejudice, and it discussed the remedies a court may consider. The duties in both cases fall on defense counsel. The practical consequence for prosecutors is that the government's own record of what was offered, when, and how it reached the defense is often the best evidence in a later dispute.
Where offices lose the history
Offers are drafted in email, approved in a hallway, and conveyed by phone. The expiration is in the letter but not on anyone's calendar. When an offer lapses, nothing stops someone from recording it as accepted later. A supervisor cannot see which offers expire this week across the office. And when a defendant files a motion claiming an offer was never conveyed, the office rebuilds the timeline from inboxes. None of that is a legal problem until it is, and then it is a record problem.
What a good offer record contains
Keep one record per formal offer, and a new one when the terms change. Record the counts to be pleaded and dismissed, any sentencing stipulations and guideline notes, cooperation terms if any, other conditions, and the named defense counsel. Record the expiration as a date, time and time zone, not ‘end of next week’. Record who drafted it and who approved it, and do not let the drafter approve their own offer. Keep the letter text as it stood when it was conveyed. Log each communication to defense counsel: the method, the time, who sent it, and which version went. When an offer expires, it should stay expired until someone with authority reopens it, with a reason and a new deadline, and the defense should receive the updated letter before an acceptance is recorded.
Supervision without extra meetings
An office-wide view of offers expiring in the next two weeks, offers past expiration and still open, and offers awaiting approval gives a section chief what they need without a status meeting. It also catches the quiet failure: an approved offer that was never sent. Keep the letters inside the office's own record, not in a shared folder partner agencies can read.
How Prosequi handles it
The Plea Desk tab on a matter records every formal offer with its terms, approver, expiration countdown and communication log. The person who drafted, edited or submitted an offer cannot approve it. An expired offer cannot be approved, extended or accepted until an approver reopens it with a reason and a new expiration. Conveyance must be logged by a written method with the letter attached; phone calls are logged as follow-ups. The office view at /plea-desk lists offers expiring in the next 14 days. Only the lead office can see it; partner agencies cannot. The desk uses no AI, sends nothing to anyone, and does not decide whether any step satisfies Frye or Lafler. It records what the office did.
Not legal advice
This guide summarizes two Supreme Court decisions briefly and describes a record-keeping practice. It is not legal advice. Current law, your jurisdiction's rules and your office's plea policy govern.