Alderman v. State
Alderman v. State
Opinion
Joe Alderman, the appellant, pleaded guilty to and was convicted of the offense of theft in the second degree. Three issues are raised in this appeal.
The appellant was originally indicted for the offense of theft in the first degree. On September 9, 1991, the case was called for trial and a jury was struck. After the jury was empaneled, but before opening statements and the presentation of any evidence, trial was recessed for lunch. When trial resumed, defense counsel notified the trial court, out of the presence of the jury, that the appellant wished to enter a guilty plea. The prosecutor then stated that he "intend[ed] to file an amended count two stating theft of property in the second degree." PR. 31.1
In response to specific questioning by the trial judge, the appellant stated that he was 26 years of age and that he had attended college for a year and a half. He further stated that he was not "under psychiatric treatment," was not "experiencing mental or emotional problems," or was not "under the influence of any medication, drugs, or alcohol." PR. 33-34. The trial judge advised the appellant that theft in the second degree is a Class C felony and explained to him the elements of and the correct range of punishment for that offense. PR. 34-36. The trial judge also gave the appellant a detailed explanation of the rights he would waive by pleading guilty. PR. 37-39.
The appellant responded negatively to the trial judge's questions of whether anyone had threatened him or offered him a reward to plead guilty, or promised him that he would be placed on probation or given a suspended sentence. PR. 39-40. After hearing what the prosecutor expected the evidence to show, PR. 40-42, the trial judge accepted the appellant's guilty plea and adjudged the appellant guilty, PR. 43.
During the sentencing hearing held October 11, 1991, the appellant sought to withdraw his plea, alleging that the plea had been induced by misrepresentation. This request was denied by the trial court, and the appellant was sentenced to six years' imprisonment, was fined $6,002, and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $3,001. In response to the appellant's application for probation, the trial court stated: "He will be on probation for five years after two years of incarceration." SR. 32.2
On November 8, 1991, appellate counsel3 filed a written motion to withdraw the plea. The grounds for this motion were: (1) that the guilty plea was induced by misrepresentation; (2) that there was no factual basis for the plea; and (3) that the appellant's "due process and Sixth Amendment rights were violated at the sentencing hearing," Supp.R. 9, when the trial court permitted the prosecutor to introduce hearsay evidence and then imposed an excessive sentence. The State filed a written response opposing this motion. The trial court denied the motion to withdraw in a written order stating that it had considered both the appellant's motion and the State's response thereto.
The appellant was charged with theft by deception in connection with a construction consulting contract that he had with the victims. See Part II below. At the sentencing proceeding, the prosecutor stated that the presentence report4 was "very much incomplete," SR. 4, and that he had "quite a bit of information" to relate that was "important to the Court," SR. 5. During the discussion on whether the prosecutor would be permitted to provide this information to the court, defense counsel sought a continuance, or, in the alternative, permission for the appellant to withdraw his plea. As grounds for the motion to withdraw the plea, defense counsel stated that he "was given information that proved not to be true," SR. 9, and that this erroneous information caused him to wrongly advise the appellant to plead guilty. The trial court then stated:
"Taking your requests in [the] order in which you have presented them, I deny the request for a continuance. And, before I can rule on your request to set the guilty plea aside, I need to know what information you have received from which sources and in relationship to which prosecutions." SR 10.
The gist of defense counsel's response was that, during the plea negotiations, the prosecutor stated that if the appellant pleaded guilty to the instant offense, he would not be prosecuted for his activities in connection with an investment agreement he had entered into with Ms. Wanda Irby. According to defense counsel:
"[The prosecutor] also indicated he [(the appellant)] would be prosecuted by Wanda Irby. She tells me that she has never talked to the District Attorney about prosecution of my client. I think probably Mr. Binford [the prosecutor] was quoting some attorney. I don't know. I am telling you what he said. As a result of that, I counselled my client that it would probably have been in his best interest to enter a guilty plea. After discovering that Mrs. Irby had never intended to prosecute my client, I don't think that would be successful. . . . I would not have advised my client to plea guilty." SR. 11.
In an affidavit filed in support of the appellant's written motion to withdraw his guilty plea, defense counsel averred that, "[a]s a part of [the] plea bargain offer, Mr. Binford stated that he would not pursue indictments arising out of actions involving Wanda Irby if [the appellant] entered a guilty plea. Mr. Binford specifically stated that Wanda Irby wanted to and intended to pursue criminal prosecution against [the appellant]." Supp.R. 11. In his affidavit filed in support of the motion to withdraw the plea, the appellant averred that defense counsel
"told me the district attorney had advised him that Ms. Irby wanted me prosecuted, and he was taking the matter involving Ms. Irby to a grand jury the following Monday, at which time he would obtain four indictments against me. He further stated that he would seek the maximum sentence of twenty years in each of the four indictments.
". . . .
"Based on what my lawyer told me, I believed that Ms. Irby had told the district attorney that she was going to pursue felony charges against me, and that she would do so the following Monday by appearing before the grand jury and asking the grand jury to indict me. Had I known that Ms. Irby did not believe that I had committed a criminal act or acts against her and that she did not wish to pursue criminal charges against me, I would not have accepted the plea bargain offer made by the State of Alabama." Supp.R. 15-16.
At the sentencing hearing, the prosecutor stated that, in the discussion of the plea bargain, he had informed defense counsel that he (the prosecutor) had discussed with an investigator for the Alabama Securities Commission the possibility of investigating the appellant for securities fraud in connection *Page 644 with the investment agreement the appellant had with Ms. Irby.5 SR. 14. He further stated:
"We were prone to do that, whether Wanda Irby wanted to prosecute or not. And, we agreed, as part of the plea of guilty, that if he plead guilty to this felony, knowing we opposed probation, we w[ould] agree not to proceed with that case to the Alabama Securities Commission." SR. 14-15.
In his affidavit filed in support of the State's response to the motion to withdraw the plea, the prosecutor averred that he did not, at any time, tell defense counsel "that Wanda Irby was independently pursuing or wished to independently pursue or initiate criminal prosecution of the defendant arising from the defendant's involvement in the . . . investment agreement." Supp.R. 20.
It is clear that, to be valid, a guilty plea must be both voluntarily and intelligently made. E.g., Hill v. Lockhart,
The trial court, of course, was in the best position to determine whether the plea was induced in any way. Cf. Ex parteSwain,
Immediately after defense counsel informed the trial court that the appellant wished to plead guilty, the following exchange took place:
"MR. BULLARD: . . . Mr. Binford, I understand, has something he's going to put on the record.
"MR. BINFORD: Yes, sir. I intend to file an amended count two stating theft of property in the second degree.
"MR. BULLARD: And also the part that Ms. Irby —
"MR. BINFORD: Right. I'll put that on the record.
"MR. BULLARD: Is the district attorney going to put that on the record?
"MR. BINFORD: As far as the Securities Commission?
"MR. BULLARD: Yes. And the theft.
"MR. BINFORD: Right.
"MR. BULLARD: And about Wanda Irby.
"(Whereupon an off-the-record conference transpired. . . .)" PR. 31-32.
This matter was not mentioned again until after the appellant's guilty plea had been accepted by the trial court. After a *Page 645 sentencing date was set, the following occurred:
"MR. BULLARD: Judge, also, Mr. Binford is going to put something on the record for us."MR. BINFORD: Judge, in exchange for the defendant's guilty plea to theft of property in the second degree, the State agreed to the following: I have agreed on behalf of the State not to pursue any criminal action arising out of any of the financial dealings this defendant had with one Wanda Irby, a resident [of] Dothan. That agreement includes not pursuing any type of criminal action which would allegedly violate the Alabama Securities Act.
"I have spoken to Ms. Irby regarding that and she stated to me that she has not pursued any criminal action regarding these financial dealings she had with the defendant, nor does she intend to." PR. 44-45 (emphasis added).
Neither defense counsel nor the appellant took issue with this statement. By failing to correct in any way the prosecutor's statement concerning Ms. Irby, the appellant must be deemed to have agreed with that statement. Cf. Ex parteCassady,
We note that, at the plea proceeding, the trial court specifically asked the appellant the following questions: (1) "Has anybody threatened you, harassed you, or tried in any wayto make you plead guilty?" and (2) "Have they offered you any reward or inducement to get you to plead guilty?" PR. 39. The appellant responded, "No, sir" to both questions. PR. 39-40. Before accepting the appellant's guilty plea, the trial court stated: "Based on everything that you have told me, I find that your plea is intelligent, voluntary, and knowing. I am going to accept it if you decide to offer it." PR. 40. In view of the age and educational level of the appellant and the careful and thorough questioning of the appellant by the trial court, we have no hesitation in concluding that this finding was correct. The appellant's claim that his plea was induced by misrepresentation, or even misconveyed information, is simply not substantiated by the record before us. See Key v. UnitedStates,
It is well settled that, in a guilty plea proceeding, "[t]he trial judge should be satisfied that there is a factual basis for [the] guilty plea, and this should be developed on the record." Allison v. State,
We are of the opinion that the following excerpts from the plea proceeding demonstrate *Page 646 that an adequate factual basis was developed in the instant case:
"THE COURT: Do you understand that the State wishes to amend [the original charge of first degree theft] by charging you with theft of property in the second degree?
"THE DEFENDANT: That's correct.
"THE COURT: Do you understand that theft in the second degree is a Class C felony?
"THE DEFENDANT: That's correct.
"THE COURT: In order to prove the charge of theft in the second degree, the State would have to prove by the evidence that you got control of money belonging to [the victim], you did so knowingly by deception and had the intent to deprive him of his money, and that the money amounted to more than a hundred dollars. Do you understand that that's what they've got to prove?
"THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir.
"THE COURT: Do you understand further that they would have to prove each of those things beyond a reasonable doubt by the evidence?
"THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir." PR. 34-35.
After informing the appellant of the range of punishment for theft in the second degree and explaining the rights that he would be waiving by pleading guilty, the trial court asked the prosecutor what he "expect[ed] the facts to be." PR. 40. The following then occurred:
"MR. BINFORD: Your Honor, we expect the evidence in the case to show that the defendant signed a consultant agreement with Dr. Jimmy Bellone and his wife, Janet Bellone, wherein the defendant was to be paid five hundred dollars a week for a consultant's fee. The defendant was to make arrangements for the supplies or the supply of materials to be delivered to the home building site for the Bellones."We would expect the evidence to show that the Bellones agreed to pay the materials suppliers directly themselves and that, in addition to those payments, the Bellones agreed to pay directly to Mr. Alderman all sums of money due for the crews which were laboring on the building of the home including the masonry crew and the framing crew.
"The State's evidence will show that between July 1st of 1990 and October 15th of 1990, that the defendant overcharged the Bellones in an amount of money that is within the parameters of the amended count two and that the Bellones at no time gave him permission to overcharge them by this amount and also that this offense took place here in Houston County, Alabama.
"THE COURT: All right. Mr. Alderman, you have heard what the district attorney has said about the facts in your case. Has he told me the facts the way they happened?
"THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir.
"THE COURT: Is there anything that you feel is important which he has omitted telling me?
"THE DEFENDANT: No, sir.
"THE COURT: Is there anything that you want to tell me about the facts, anything at all that you feel I should know?
"THE DEFENDANT: No, sir, Your Honor
"THE COURT: Okay. . . ." PR. 40-43 (emphasis added).
The appellant makes much of the fact that the prosecutor stated only that he "overcharged" the victims. He maintains that this was insufficient to establish the elements of intent and knowing deception that are required for a conviction of second degree theft by deception. See Ala. Code 1975, §§
The purpose of requiring the trial judge to determine that there is a factual basis for the plea "is to ensure the accuracy of the plea through some evidence that a defendant actually committed the offense." United States v. Keiswetter,
"The only factual basis required for a guilty plea is that which will satisfy the court that the appellant knows what he is pleading guilty to." Garner v. State,
Moreover, this issue is essentially an argument that the State failed to prove a necessary element of the offense. As this Court has repeatedly observed in the face of such an argument:
" 'A voluntary and intelligent plea of guilty is conclusive as to the defendant's guilt, constitutes an admission of all facts sufficiently charged in the indictment, and obviates the necessity of proof by the State. Dingler v. State,Mewbourn v. State,408 So.2d 530 (Ala. 1981); Ex parte Sankey,364 So.2d 362 (Ala. 1978), cert. denied,440 U.S. 964 ,99 S.Ct. 1513 ,59 L.Ed.2d 779 (1979). The plea admits to all elements of the offense. Carr v. State,406 So.2d 440 (Ala.Cr.App. 1981).' "
There was no allegation made below, nor is one made in this appeal, that the State in any way promised or assured the appellant of a particular sentence. At the plea proceeding, the trial court informed the appellant that "[t]he district attorney will not have an opportunity to recommend a sentence in your case. I will set the sentence within the range that I have told you about based on the presentence report." PR. 36. After ascertaining that the appellant understood this, the trial court continued:
"[The prosecution] may have an opportunity to make a recommendation about probation or a suspended sentence. I am not bound by their recommendation. The decision concerning probation, a suspended sentence, or sentencing itself rests entirely with me as the trial judge in your case. Do you understand that?" Id.
The appellant replied, "Yes, sir."
At the sentencing hearing, the trial court permitted the district attorney, over the objection of the appellant (see Part I above) to relate several other instances in which the appellant was alleged to have engaged in some type of misconduct with regard to other peoples' money. The appellant argues that instead of sentencing him based upon the presentence report, as the court had previously stated that it would, the trial court sentenced him unfairly "based upon the unsubstantiated hearsay allegations of the district attorney." Appellant's brief at 21.
This allegation is refuted by the trial court's remarks immediately prior to imposing sentence:
"Quite frankly, I think both sides to these controversies have discussed practically everything but what is really involved here. Your client plead guilty to a felony and as far as any alleged attacks on his character [are] concerned, Mr. Bullard, he comes before the Court as a convicted felon, a person whose credibility will forever be subject to attack because of his conviction. I certainly do not consider what the State has sought to prove in this context to be in any sense character assassination. But really, what is at stake here is not whether or not Mr. Alderman played fast and loose with a four thousand dollar check in Bay County, Florida, or wrote threatening letters to somebody's lawyer or anything of that nature. Very simply put, Mr. Alderman stood in a fiduciary relationship to the victim in this case and he has admitted, by his plea of guilty, to bilking that victim of money. The standard applicable to fiduciaries was never more eloquently put than by Justice Cardozo in [Meinhard vs. Salmon,249 N.Y. 458 ,464 ,164 N.E. 545 ,546 (1928)] in which he refers to the standard as being the 'punctilio of an honor the most sensitive.' And, your client has shown the contempt which he has for that standard and I am going to pronounce sentence accordingly." SR. 29-30 (emphasis added).
A sentencing judge may consider "criminal activity [on the part of the defendant] that did not result in a conviction,"Jackson v. State,
The appellant was clearly granted an opportunity at the sentence hearing to respond to the prosecutor's hearsay allegations. He contends that this opportunity was inadequate and that the trial court should have granted his request for a continuance *Page 649
so that he could properly rebut the prosecutor's allegations. Any error that might have been occasioned by the trial court's denial of the appellant's request for a continuance was undoubtedly harmless. It is clear from the statements of the trial judge quoted above that he imposed sentence solely on the basis of the appellant's conduct in this particular case. Cf.Godfrey v. State,
As part of this last issue, the appellant also claims that the six-year sentence imposed by the trial court and the denial of probation violated the sentencing principles contained in Rule 26.8, A.R.Crim. P.7 The new Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure, however, "automatically apply" only to "criminal proceedings commenced at or after 12:01 a.m., January 1, 1991." Rule 1.5, A.R.Crim.P. and Committee Comments thereto. The indictment against the appellant was filed December 14, 1990. CR. 6. Thus, his case was pending at the time the new rules went into effect, see Committee Comments to Rule 1.5, and the old Temporary Rules of Criminal Procedure apply in his case.8 See H. Maddox, Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure, § 1.5 (1990). There is no Temporary Rule comparable to current Rule 26.8. Furthermore, Rule 26.8 was not brought to the attention of the trial judge at the sentence hearing or in the written motion to withdraw the plea.
The sentence of six years imposed in this case was clearly within the range of punishment for the offense. See Ala. Code 1975, §§
For the reasons stated above, the judgment of the circuit court is affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
All Judges concur.
"The sentence imposed in each case should call for the least restrictive sanction that is consistent with the protection of the public and the gravity of the crime. In determining the sentence, the court should evaluate the crime and its consequences, as well as the background and record of the defendant and give serious consideration to the goal of sentencing equality and the need to avoid unwarranted disparities."Judges should be sensitive to the impact their sentences have on all components of the criminal justice system and should consider alternatives to long-term institutional confinement or incarceration in cases involving offenders whom the court deems to pose no serious danger to society."
Reference
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