Ragland v. State
Ragland v. State
Opinion
Claude Lee Ragland appeals from the circuit court's summary dismissal of his Rule 32, Ala. R.Crim. P., petition filed *Page 731
on May 31, 2002.1 The petition sought post-conviction relief from his December 10, 1999, conviction for distribution of a controlled substance and from his resulting 26-year sentence. Ragland's conviction was obtained pursuant to a guilty plea. He was sentenced on January 26, 2001.2 Ragland's sentence comprises a base sentence of 16 years and two 5-year enhancements that were added to the base sentence pursuant to §
"[W]hen the facts are undisputed and an appellate court is presented with pure questions of law, that court's review in a Rule 32 proceeding is de novo." Ex parte White,
Ragland has sufficiently pleaded at least one claim entitling him to relief. Thus, an effort to decipher all of the claims he attempted to raise in his petition is unnecessary. Ragland claims in his petition and on appeal 1) that his guilty-plea was involuntary because, although he was informed of the possible range of sentence, he was not informed at his guilty plea proceedings that his sentence would be enhanced 10 years pursuant to §§
This Court can take judicial notice of its own records. Exparte Salter,
Smith v. State,"It is well settled that `claims challenging the voluntariness of a guilty plea, as well as claims alleging ineffective assistance of trial counsel, may be raised for the first time in a timely filed Rule 32 petition.' George v. State,
774 So.2d 608 ,609 (Ala.Crim.App. 2000). See also Ex parte Ingram,675 So.2d 863 (Ala. 1996); Baker v. State,717 So.2d 859 (Ala.Crim.App. 1996); and Cantu v. State,660 So.2d 1026 (Ala. 1994)."
Smith v. State, 852 So.2d at 188."`When an accused is not informed that §
13A-12-250 [or §13A-12-270 ] will be applied in the accused's case . . . then the accused has not been informed of the true and correct terms of the sentence . . . and it cannot be said that his plea was "knowingly given."' Pope v. State,681 So.2d 1098 ,1099 (Ala.Crim.App. 1995). See also Cummings v. State,642 So.2d 489 (Ala.Crim.App. 1992). In addition, `a misrepresentation by a defendant's counsel, if material, may render a guilty plea involuntary.' Ex parte Blackmon,734 So.2d 995 ,997 (Ala. 1999). See also Ford v. State,831 So.2d 641 (Ala.Crim.App. 2001); and Minor v. State,627 So.2d 1071 (Ala.Crim.App. 1992)."
The circuit erred in denying Ragland relief on the above claim presented in his Rule 32, Ala. R.Crim. P., petition. This cause is therefore remanded to the trial court with directions to allow Ragland to withdraw his guilty plea on the grounds that his plea was not knowingly and voluntarily entered, and, if Ragland so wishes, to allow him the opportunity to enter another plea after he has been fully and correctly informed about the range of sentence. If at that time Ragland declines to plead guilty, "the charges against the defendant as they existed before any amendment, reduction, or dismissal made as part of a plea agreement shall be reinstated *Page 733 automatically." Rule 14.4(e), Ala. R.Crim. P. Due return shall be made to this Court within 60 days of the release of this opinion. As stated above, because we must remand this cause to the trial court, we pretermit any discussion of the remaining issues raised by Ragland on appeal.
REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS.*
McMILLAN, P.J., and BASCHAB, SHAW, and WISE, JJ., concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Claude Lee Ragland v. State.
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- 5 cases
- Status
- Published