Duncan v. State
Duncan v. State
Opinion
The appellant appeals from his convictions entered on a "blind" plea to the charges of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance, a violation of §
The trial court conducted a hearing on the appellant's motion to withdraw his guilty pleas and subsequently denied the motion.
The appellant argues that his guilty pleas were involuntary because his trial counsel told him that he would receive a more lenient sentence on a blind plea.
At the hearing conducted on the motion to withdraw the guilty plea, there was evidence that the State had offered the appellant a plea agreement whereby he would be sentenced to 22 years' imprisonment, but that the appellant rejected the offer. Trial counsel then suggested to the appellant that he could go to trial, but the appellant refused to do that. Trial counsel testified that they then suggested that the appellant could enter a blind plea. Counsel testified that they advised the appellant that, while it was possible that he would get a lesser sentence on a blind plea than the one offered pursuant to the plea agreement, "he could get considerably more."
An examination of the record reveals that the appellant's guilty pleas were voluntarily and intelligently entered. The trial court undertook the necessary factual inquiry; it ascertained that the appellant had voluntarily pleaded guilty; and it verified that a factual basis existed for the charges against him. Boykin v. Alabama,
This cause must be remanded, however, because the trial court failed to sentence the appellant within the appropriate sentencing range for criminal littering, a Class C misdemeanor, as required by §
"Sentences for misdemeanors shall be a definite term of imprisonment in the county jail or to hard labor for the county, within the following limitations:
". . . .
"(3) For a Class C misdemeanor, not more than three months."
If the original sentence is invalid, the trial court must then resentence the appellant accordingly. If the original sentence is invalid, the trial cour tmust then resentence the appellant accordingly. See Rokitski v. State,
REMANDED FOR RESENTENCING.
LONG, P.J., and COBB, BASCHAB, and FRY, JJ., concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Terry Duncan, Alias v. State.
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published