State v. Stevens
State v. Stevens
Opinion of the Court
Opinion
The state appeals from the judgment of the Appellate Court reversing the judgment of conviction of the defendant, Linda M. Stevens, who had appealed to that court challenging the sentence imposed on her by the trial court, in accordance with an agreement pursuant to State v. Garvin, 242 Conn. 296, 699 A.2d 921 (1997),
The Appellate Court’s opinion sets forth the following facts and procedural history that are relevant to our resolution of the state’s appeal. “On August 6, 2002, in exchange for a sentence of three years incarceration, the defendant pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of narcotics in violation of § 21a-279 (a).
Thereafter, the defendant appealed from the judgment of conviction to the Appellate Court, claiming that, by adding the no arrest condition to the plea agreement and by using it to enhance her sentence,
The Appellate Court reversed the judgment, concluding that the sentence must be vacated and the case remanded to the trial court.
On appeal to this court, the state claims that the Appellate Court acted improperly because the trial court reasonably had sentenced the defendant in accordance with the terms of the Garvin agreement and in accordance with the defendant’s rights to due process.
“A Garvin agreement is a conditional plea agreement that has two possible binding outcomes, one that results from the defendant’s compliance with the conditions of the plea agreement and one that is triggered by his violation of a condition of the agreement.” State v. Wheatland, 93 Conn. App. 232, 235 n.3, 888 A.2d 1098 (2006). “The validity of plea bargains depends on contract principles.” State v. Garvin, supra, 242 Conn. 314. Thus, “[p]rinciples of contract law and special due pro
In Garvin, the trial court had warned the defendant at the time he entered his guilty pleas that it would not be bound by the agreed upon sentence if the defendant failed to appear for sentencing. State v. Garvin, supra, 242 Conn. 300. When the defendant failed to appear and subsequently was apprehended, the court refused to allow him to withdraw his pleas and imposed a sentence greater than what had been set forth in the plea agreement. Id., 300-301. Although the condition of the plea agreement in Garvin was that the defendant appear for sentencing, that case does not suggest that a failure to appear is the only condition that may be imposed on the agreement. Indeed, in State v. Trotman, 68 Conn. App. 437, 445, 791 A.2d 700 (2002), the Appellate Court, in reliance on Garvin, upheld the finding of the trial court that the defendant had breached her plea agreement when she produced urine samples that tested positive for opiates. Because the defendant had been warned clearly by the trial court and was aware of and understood her obligation not to produce positive urine samples, the trial court properly had imposed a sentence of incarceration instead of the agreed upon suspended sentence. Id. Similarly, in State v. Small, 78 Conn. App. 14, 22, 826 A.2d 211 (2003), the Appellate Court determined that the trial court properly had imposed as a condition of the defendant’s Garvin agreement that he have no contact with the victims of his offenses when it warned him that if, based upon a finding of probable cause, he had violated that condi
In the present case, the state claims that the conditions that the defendant not be arrested while awaiting her sentencing and that she appear for that sentencing were an integral part of the plea agreement. We have examined the plea agreement by evaluating the court’s explanation to the defendant of these conditions and conclude that both were part of the Garvin plea agreement between the parties.
The trial court’s decision to enhance the defendant’s sentence necessarily was predicated on two subsidiary determinations: that the agreement in fact was
If that factor alone were sufficient to find a condition of a Garvin agreement invalid, however, other plea conditions that our courts have found to be proper also would be unreliable. For example, a defendant could fail to appear because he was in an accident, or a defendant inadvertently could have come into contact with the alleged victims from whom he had been warned to stay away at some neutral site. Thus, the mere fact that some circumstance could arise wherein the breach condition was established through no fault of the defendant does not render that condition unreliable as a matter of law. Indeed, the defendant concedes that, without a Garvin agreement, a presentence arrest is a legitimate basis for enhancing a sentence, but nonetheless claims that it is not a legitimate condition of a Garvin agreement. We cannot reconcile the notion, however, that a presentence arrest is sufficiently reliable for sentencing purposes absent a plea agreement, but not sufficiently reliable for imposing it as a binding condition of such an agreement.
We need not decide whether in eveiy case the fact of an arrest is entitled to be met with a presumption of regularity. First, we note that, in this case, the trial court found probable cause to support the arrest, and we conclude as a matter of law that the facts upon which
Second, although we agree that due process requires that the defendant be given the opportunity to contest the evidence upon which the trial court relies for sentencing purposes; State v. Huey, 199 Conn. 121, 132, 505 A.2d 1242 (1986) (Healey, J., concurring); Practice Book §§ 43-10 (1) and 43-16; the defendant in the present case does not dispute the fact of the arrest or the existence of probable cause for that arrest, nor does the record reflect that she challenged the veracity of the state’s allegations regarding her criminal behavior.
The judgment of the Appellate Court is reversed and the case is remanded to that court with direction to affirm the judgment of the trial court.
In this opinion SULLIVAN, C. J., and PALMER and VERTEFEUILLE, Js., concurred.
“A Garvin agreement is a conditional plea agreement that has two possible binding outcomes, one that results from the defendant’s compliance with the conditions of the plea agreement and one that is triggered by the defendant’s violation of a condition of the agreement. See State v. Garvin, [supra, 242 Conn. 299-302].” State v. Stevens, 85 Conn. App. 473, 474 n.2, 857 A.2d 972 (2004).
“Under North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 91 S. Ct. 160, 27 L. Ed. 2d 162 (1970), a criminal defendant is not required to admit his guilt, but consents to being punished as if he were guilty to avoid the risk of proceeding to trial. . . . A guilty plea under the Alford doctrine is a judicial oxymoron in that the defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges that the state’s evidence against him is so strong that he is prepared to accept the entry of a guilty plea nevertheless.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Faraday, 268 Conn. 174, 204-205, 842 A.2d 567 (2004).
The state initially had charged the defendant with possession of narcotics, possession of less than four ounces of marijuana and use of drug paraphernalia. Thereafter, the state entered a nolle prosequi as to the charges of possession of less than four ounces of marijuana and use of drug paraphernalia.
The August 8, 2002 police incident and offense report submitted to the court, reflects that the defendant was charged with possession of one-half gram or more of cocaine in freebase form with intent to sell in violation of General Statutes § 21a-278 (a), illegal possession of narcotics in a school zone in violation of § 21a-279 (d), and possession of marijuana in violation of § 21a-279 (c).
The defendant’s appeal challenged only the imposition of the enhanced sentence and did not seek either to withdraw her plea or to vacate her plea agreement.
Although the defendant had failed to raise her claim before the trial court, the Appellate Court concluded that the defendant had satisfied all four prongs of State v. Golding, 213 Conn. 233, 239-40, 567 A.2d 823 (1989), and, therefore, was entitled to appellate review and relief.
Specifically, the Appellate Court cited to Practice Book §§ 39-9 and 39-10. Practice Book § 39-9 provides in relevant part: “If the caséis continued for sentencing, the judicial authority shall inform the defendant that a different sentence from that embodied in the plea agreement may be imposed on the receipt of new information . . . but that if such a sentence is imposed, the defendant will be allowed to withdraw his or her plea in accordance with Sections 39-26 through 39-28.”
Practice Book § 39-10 provides: “If the judicial authority rejects the plea agreement, it shall inform the parties of this fact; advise the defendant personally in open court or, on a showing of good cause, in camera that the judicial authority is not bound by the plea agreement; afford the defendant the opportunity then to withdraw the plea, if given; and advise the defendant that if he or she persists in a guilty plea or plea of nolo contendere, the disposition of the case may be less favorable to the defendant than that contemplated by the plea agreement.”
The state does not dispute the defendant’s contention that she is entitled to review of her unpreserved claim under State v. Golding, 213 Conn. 233, 239-40, 567 A.2d 823 (1989), but asserts that she cannot demonstrate under the third prong of Golding that the trial court’s imposition of the seven year sentence clearly violated her right to due process. We agree with the defendant that she is entitled to review, but, for the reasons set forth later in this opinion, we agree with the state as to the merits of this issue.
The following colloquy took place between the trial court and the defendant:
“The Court: Now when you come back [for sentencing], you’re going to get three years in jail. If I want to give you more than three years, then you can take [your] plea back. However, if you don’t show up on the day of sentencing or you pick up a new arrest and I read the police report and there’s probable cause, then I can give you the full seven years and you cannot take your plea back. Do you understand that, ma’am?
“The Defendant: Yes, Your Honor.
“The Court: Do you agree with that?
“The Defendant: Yes.”
Indeed, the record reflects that, at the sentencing hearing, the defendant’s only response to the trial court’s inquiry as to whether she wanted to say anything was the following statement: “There ain’t a problem with smoking and everything — incarcerated now upon my — it’s clearing and I know all the mistakes that I made and I just need one more chance . . . .” Defense counsel argued to the trial court only that the defendant did not reside at the address where the drugs were seized; the trial court noted, however, that the bond sheet reflected that the defendant had given that address when she posted bond, a fact that defense counsel did not dispute.
Concurring Opinion
concurring. I agree with the result reached by the majority in this case, but write separately because I disagree with much of the reasoning supporting the majority’s conclusion that enforcement of the “no arrest” condition of the plea agreement in this case, pursuant to State v. Garvin, 242 Conn. 296, 699 A.2d
I begin with a brief review of this court’s decision in State v. Garvin, supra, 242 Conn. 296. In Garvin, the
On appeal, the defendant contended, inter alia, “that the plea agreement violated his right to due process because, if he did not have the right to withdraw his pleas after he failed to appear for sentencing, the plea agreement constituted an illusory contract.” Id., 313. Noting that “[t]he validity of plea bargains depends on contract principles,” we concluded that, “[u]nder the
A defendant who has pleaded guilty under the terms of a Garvin agreement is, in essence, serving a form of probation as he stands to receive the benefits of the plea bargain only if he abides by the conditions that it imposes. See Torres v. Berbary, 340 F.3d 63, 69 (2d Cir. 2003) (“[t]he determination to resentence for the breach of a condition of a sentence is . . . analogous to the determination to impose a sentence for violation of the terms of probation”). Additionally, the terms of a Garvin agreement frequently bear more than a faint resemblance to the terms imposed in accordance with probation. See State v. Small, 78 Conn. App. 14, 17-18, 826 A.2d 211 (2003) (defendant prohibited from, inter alia, contact with alleged victims; compliance would result in sentence of two years and six months and violation would result in sentence of four years and eleven months); State v. Lopez, 77 Conn. App. 67, 70-71, 822 A.2d 948 (2003) (state would nolle charges if defendant abated numerous fire and health code violations and made charitable contribution by specified date; failure to abide by agreement would result in imprisonment and probation), aff'd, 269 Conn. 799, 850 A.2d 143 (2004); State v. Trotman, 68 Conn. App. 437, 440, 791
In the closely analogous probation context, merely being arrested is insufficient to constitute a violation; rather, the state must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the probationer violated the terms of his or her probation by, for example, violating a criminal statute.
I further disagree with the majority’s position that a showing of probable cause for the arrest is constitutionally sufficient because, as the defendant concedes, a sentencing court properly may consider a presentence arrest as a factor for enhancing a defendant’s sentence. Unlike the majority, however, I see nothing inconsistent with the defendant’s position that the presentence arrest is “not sufficiently reliable for imposing it as a binding condition of such [a plea] agreement.” Citing State v. Eric M., 271 Conn. 641, 649-51, 858 A.2d 767 (2004) (defendant’s comments in newspaper article), and State v. Patterson, 236 Conn. 561, 576, 674 A.2d 416 (1996) (lack of presentence investigation report), the majority states that a presentence arrest is an enhancement factor that has the “minimum indicia of reliability” required by “our well settled case law.”
Moreover, the higher standard of proof, namely, preponderance of the evidence, would mitigate the Appellate Court’s well founded concerns that “[w]e do not accept . . . that a person necessarily has control over whether he or she is arrested. We recognize that being arrested, similar to being struck by lightning, can be the result of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.” State v. Stevens, supra, 85 Conn. App. 478. The undeniable reality is that, like the defendant in the present case, many criminal defendants reside in disadvantaged urban environments and are not strangers to a heightened police presence. Thus, to take the Appellate Court’s lightning analogy one step further, many defendants are released pursuant to Garvin agreements into situations that are akin to walking on an open field with a metal tipped umbrella in a thunderstorm.
Finally, a review of the federal and state case law that has developed in the context of “no arrest” and other plea conditions enforced in New York pursuant to People v. Outley, 80 N.Y.2d 702, 610 N.E.2d 356, 594 N.Y.S.2d 683 (1993),
A recent decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Torres v. Berbary, supra, 340 F.3d 63, casts significant constitutional doubt on the enforcement of “no arrest” conditions such as those approved by the majority and the New York Court of Appeals in Outley, which do not require the state to prove misconduct by the defendant by a preponderance of the evidence.
In my view, the Second Circuit’s decision in Torres ineluctably leads to the conclusion that the criminal conduct alleged to have caused the breach of a “no arrest” condition must be proven by the preponderance of the evidence.
The present case, at first glance, presents the issue identified by the New York federal and state courts in the wake of Torres v. Berbary, supra, 340 F.3d 63. See footnotes 12 and 13 of this concurring opinion. Here, there clearly existed probable cause for the defendant’s arrest,
The Appellate Court has aptly described a Garvin agreement as “a conditional plea agreement that has two possible binding outcomes, one that results from the defendant’s compliance with the conditions of the plea agreement and one that is triggered by his violation of a condition of the agreement. See State v. Garvin, supra, 242 Conn. 300-302.” State v. Wheatland, 93 Conn. App. 232, 235 n.3, 888 A.2d 1098 (2006).
At the outset, I note my agreement with the majority’s assessment of the clarity of the terms of the plea agreement at issue in this case, and the fact that the defendant acknowledged and accepted these terms, including the “no arrest” condition. The crystal clarity of the Garvin agreement and the defendant’s consent thereto are, however, irrelevant because enforcement of the “no arrest” condition is by itself a due process violation to which a defendant may not agree, even pursuant to a negotiated plea bargain. See, e.g., Lee v. State, 816 N.E.2d 35, 38 (Ind. 2004) (The court noted that “contract law principles although helpful are not necessarily determinative in cases involving plea agreements. For example we of course agree that ‘we would not enforce a sentence of death for jay walking simply because the sentence was the product of a plea agreement.’ ”).
The Garvin agreements in State v. Lopez, supra, 77 Conn. App. 70-71, and State v. Trotman, supra, 68 Conn. App. 440, are particularly analogous to probation, which is “first and foremost, apenal alternative to incarceration .... [Its] purpose ... is to provide a period of grace in order to aid the rehabilitation of a penitent offender; to take advantage of an opportunity for reformation which actual service of the suspended sentence might make less probable. . . . [Probationers ... do not enjoy the absolute liberty to which every citizen is entitled, but only . . . conditional liberty properly dependent on observance of special [probation] restrictions. . . . These restrictions are meant to assure that the probation serves as a period of genuine rehabilitation and that the community is not harmed by the probationer’s being at large.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Faraday, 268 Conn. 174, 180, 842 A.2d 567 (2004).
The trial court’s factual finding as to whether a probationer has violated a condition of his probation is reviewed on appeal for clear error. State v. Faraday, 268 Conn. 174, 185, 842 A.2d 567 (2004.) I also note that after a trial court has determined that the probationer has violated a condition of his or her probation, that “court must next determine whether probation should be revoked because the beneficial aspects of probation are no longer being served.'’ (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Id. If the trial court makes this determination and reinstates the original sentence and orders incarceration, that determination is reviewed l'or abuse of discretion. Id., 185-86.
I note that we review the trial court’s finding of a breach of a plea agreement for clear error. State v. Trotman, supra, 68 Conn. App. 441.
In State v. Eric M., supra, 271 Conn. 641, we reviewed the numerous principles that govern the sentencing process. “A sentencing judge has very broad discretion in imposing any sentence within the statutory limits and in exercising that discretion he may and should consider matters that would not be admissible at trial. ... To arrive at a just sentence, a sentencing judge may consider information that would be inadmissible for the purpose of determining guilt . . . [and] evidence of crimes for which the defendant was indicted but neither tried nor convicted .... Generally, due process
“Nevertheless, [t]he trial court’s discretion ... is not completely unfettered. As a matter of due process, information may be considered as a basis for a sentence only if it has some minimal indicium of reliability. ... As long as the sentencing judge has a reasonable, persuasive basis for relying on the information which he uses to fashion his ultimate sentence, an appellate court should not interfere with his discretion. . . .
“To hold otherwise would be to adopt an unrealistic view of both the plea bargaining and sentencing processes, a view that would only deter judges from articulating their reasons for a particular sentence fully and prevent correction when the sentencing judge relied on information which was truly unreliable, inaccurate or patently wrong. Trial judges ought not be reprimanded for acknowledging on the record the impact of information they have gained in the plea bargaining or sentencing processes unless the use of such information confounds reason and a just result. . . . Accordingly, when cases of this nature are heard on appeal, we should review the record to ensure that there is a persuasive basis for the conclusion reached by the sentencing court. . . . There is no simple formula for determining what information considered by a sentencing judge is sufficiently reliable to meet the requirements of due process. The question must be answered on a case by case basis.” (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Id., 649-51.
I, of course, do not suggest that a defendant may purposefully be subjected to a greater sentence as a consequence of having exercised his right to a trial. See State v. Revelo, 256 Conn. 494, 514, 775 A.2d 260 (“[T]he trial court imposed a more severe sentence on the defendant solely because he asserted his right to a judicial ruling on his motion to suppress. In doing so, the trial court unfairly punished the defendant for exercising that right in violation of the federal due process clause.”), cert. denied, 534 U.S. 1052, 122 S. Ct. 639, 151 L. Ed. 2d 558 (2001).
I disagree with the majority’s position that, if not getting arrested is beyond the defendant’s control, then '‘other plea conditions that our courts have found to be proper also would be unreliable. For example, a defendant could fail to appear because he was in an accident, or a defendant inadvertently could come into contact with the alleged victims from whom he had been warned to stay away at some neutral site. Thus, the mere fact that some circumstance could arise wherein the breach condition was established through no fault of the defendant does not render that condition unreliable as a matter of law.” In my view, this position is too sweeping,
Indeed, I note that the majority cites People v. Outley, supra, 80 N.Y.2d 702, for the proposition that, “in the absence of a dispute as to the validity of the arrest, giving effect to the breach of the no arrest condition does not violate due process.”
Sister state case law with respect to the due process implications of “no arrest” conditions is scarce, but I note that Florida enforces “no offense” conditions pursuant to its leading conditional plea agreement case, Quarterman v. State, 527 So. 2d 1380, 1382 (Fla. 1988), which, like State v. Garvin, supra, 242 Conn. 313-14, involved a defendant’s failure to appear. Florida’s intermediate appellate court has upheld a maximum sentence imposed as a violation of a “no offense” provision of a conditional plea agreement, noting that the trial court had held a “full hearing” prior to increasing the defendant’s sentence. Bennett v. State, 858 So. 2d 1251, 1252 (Fla. App. 2003).
Indeed, even before Torres, a New York federal District Court had questioned the constitutionality of increasing a sentence as a result of the violation of a “no arrest” condition pursuant to People v. Outley, supra, 80 N.Y.2d 712-13, without also requiring the state to prove, at least by the preponderance of the evidence, that the defendant actually engaged in criminal conduct. See Spence v. Superintendent, 987 F. Sup. 151, 164 (E.D.N.Y. 1997) (finding “considerable appeal” in petitioner’s argument that, “for due process to be served, the breach of a no-arrest condition must be supported by a judicial finding by at least a preponderance of the evidence that [the] defendant, committed the crime for which he was arrested”), rev’d on other grounds, 219 F.3d 162 (2d Cir. 2000), overruled in part on other grounds, Dretke v. Haley, 541 U.S. 386, 393-94, 124 S. Ct. 1847, 158 L. Ed. 2d 659 (2004); see also Spence v. Superintendent, supra, 164 (noting advantages of preponderance of evidence inquiry as compared to “fluid” probable cause standard). Ultimately, however, the District Court concluded that it could not grant the petitioner habeas corpus relief because application of the preponderance of the evidence standard, rather than probable cause, would constitute a “new rule” that could not be applied on collateral review pursuant to Teague v. Lane, 489 U.S. 288, 109 S. Ct. 1060, 103 L. Ed. 2d 334 (1989). Spence v. Superintendent, supra, 165-68.
I note that the federal District Courts have, while criticizing the underpinnings and effect of the Second Circuit’s decision in Torres, nevertheless identified its import and applicability in this context of “no arrest” conditions. See Coleman v. Rick, 281 F. Sup. 2d 549, 560 (E.D.N.Y. 2003) (criticizing Toms as “undesirable and indefensible” in light of Supreme Court cases and habeas corpus restrictions provided by Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, 28 U.S.C. § 2254 [d]). In Coleman, the petitioner had entered into a “no misconduct” sentencing agreement, but was arrested shortly thereafter for menacing, robbery and harassment. Id., 553. The court denied the petition for habeas corpus, apparently considering the “no misconduct” agreement to be a “no arrest” agreement, and concluding, inter alia, that the petitioner’s due process rights had not been violated because the state trial court had conducted a hearing pursuant to People v. Outley, supra, 80 N.Y.2d 712-13, at which the petitioner could speak, and the indictment on the second charges was a constitutionally sufficient “legitimate basis” for those charges. Coleman v. Rick, supra, 559. The District Court concluded that, with respect to any doubt created by the preponderance of the evidence standard required by Torres v. Berbary, supra, 340 F.3d 69-70, the subsequent indictment of the petitioner would satisfy that standard, and that, in any event, the petitioner had subsequently pleaded guilty to the new robbery charges that had led to the sentence enhancement. Coleman v. Rick, supra, 560-61. The court did, however, grant a certificate of appealability because the “shadow of Torres” rendered the case “now a close question,” and that decision had left the District Courts in a state of “disquietude.” Id., 561; see also Janick v. Superintendent, 404 F. Sup. 2d 472, 486 (W.D.N.Y. 2005) (noting that “the issue that remains is whether the Outley ‘legitimate basis’ standard is adequate to satisfy due process requirements at sentencing, or whether a ‘preponderance’ standard is constitutionally required,” but concluding in “no arrest” case that fingerprint evidence in case satisfied higher standard under Torres).
Indeed, I further note that several reported New York state court decisions have identified this issue, but have yet to decide it because of the records in those specific cases. See People v. Valencia, 3 N.Y.3d 714, 715, 819 N.E.2d 990, 786 N.Y.S.2d 374 (2004) (identifying Torres issue in case wherein defendant failed to complete drug treatment, but declining to decide issue because defendant did “not dispute that he committed acts that constituted violations of the plea agreement”); see also People v. Ricketts, 27
I agree with the majority’s conclusion that the police report from the defendant’s subsequent arrest clearly establishes probable cause for her arrest, namely, that in the course of executing a search warrant, the police allegedly witnessed the defendant sitting at the kitchen table bagging crack cocaine for sale.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- State of Connecticut v. Linda M. Stevens
- Cited By
- 29 cases
- Status
- Published