Mellott v. State
Mellott v. State
Opinion of the Court
[¶1] Appellant, Lisa L. Mellott, pled guilty to one felony count of Medicaid fraud related to improper record-keeping, ten felony counts of Medicaid fraud for making false or misleading statements in Medicaid claims when the value of the medical assistance is $500 or more, and two counts of felony forgery. Ms. Mellott appeals her judgment and sentence and the district court's denial of her W.R.A.P 21(a) motion to withdraw her pleas due to ineffective assistance of trial counsel. She argues the State unlawfully charged her with ten felony counts of submitting false statements for more than $500 of medical assistance based on the aggregated values of multiple reimbursement claims of less than $500 each. Ms. Mellott claims her trial counsel provided ineffective assistance because he did not challenge those charges and, instead, advised Ms. Mellott to accept a plea agreement under which she pled guilty to all charges. She also claims her trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to fully investigate all of the charges against her. We conclude there was no factual basis for Ms. Mellott's guilty plea as to Counts 2 through 11 and her trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by advising her to accept the plea agreement. We therefore reverse and remand to the district court.
ISSUES
[¶2] Ms. Mellott presents the following issues:
1. Does the Wyoming Medicaid Fraud Statute-which denominates every *380false claim violation as a "separate offense"-allow for aggregation of multiple monthly reimbursement claims of less than $500, in order to create a felony charge for a false claim in excess of $500, extending over years of time?
2. Was there a structural error in using an "aggregated" theory of loss to achieve felony charges, that lowers the burden to demonstrate ineffective assistance of counsel?
3. Did appellant's appointed attorney, without conducting an investigation, and with inadequate legal analysis, render ineffective assistance of counsel by advising guilty pleas to all the charges lodged below?
FACTS
[¶3] When the alleged crimes occurred, Ms. Mellott was a registered nurse and a Medicaid provider through a home healthcare business she owned and operated. Among other services, she served as a case manager for Medicaid Waiver clients and submitted claims for payment to the state Medicaid office for the services she provided.
[¶4] On December 18, 2015, the State charged Ms. Mellott with a total of fifteen felony counts related to her actions as a Medicaid provider. Through an amended information, the State later altered its factual allegations, but did not substantively change the number of counts or the applicable statutes. Count 1 alleged Ms. Mellott violated
[¶5] Ms. Mellott was assigned a public defender (trial counsel), and on June 22, 2016, she changed her pleas to guilty on her trial counsel's advice and pursuant to an oral plea agreement. Under the agreement, Ms. Mellott would plead guilty to all charges, but could argue for any sentence she saw fit. In exchange, the State would recommend a sentence of 3 to 6 years of imprisonment for the inadequate record-keeping charge (Count 1) and concurrent sentences for the false statement and forgery charges (Counts 2 through 11 and Counts 12 through 15, respectively) of 3 to 6 years of imprisonment. The State would recommend suspending the concurrent sentences for Counts 2 through 15 in favor of 6 years of probation, which would run consecutive to the sentence for Count 1. The State also would request restitution in the amount of $107,632.18. Ms. Mellott pled guilty to Counts 1 through 11 and Counts 14 and 15, but she expressed concerns to her trial counsel that she could not truthfully plead guilty to Counts 12 and 13. The State agreed to dismiss those two counts and the district court accepted Ms. Mellott's guilty pleas.
[¶6] At the beginning of its September 27, 2016, sentencing hearing, the district court revisited the plea colloquy to ensure there was a factual basis to support Ms. Mellott's guilty plea as to Counts 5 through 7. The court then sentenced Ms. Mellott to 18 to 24 months of confinement for Count 1 and concurrent suspended sentences of 3 to 6 years of confinement for Counts 2 through 11, 14, and 15.
[¶7] Ms. Mellott timely appealed the judgment and sentence.
[¶8] At the evidentiary hearing on the W.R.A.P. 21 motion, the district court heard the parties' arguments and testimony from Ms. Mellott, her trial counsel, and several other witnesses. The district court also received exhibits, including a spreadsheet from the State listing information from a database on the Medicaid claims related to the charges against Ms. Mellott.
[¶9] In the district court's decision letter incorporated into its order denying Ms. Mellott's W.R.A.P. 21 motion, the court characterized the dispositive issue as: "Whether assistance provided by Appellant's trial counsel was ineffective so as to allow Appellant to withdraw her plea pursuant to W.R.A.P. 21." The district court considered and rejected Ms. Mellott's argument that
[¶10] Ms. Mellott timely appealed the district court's denial of her W.R.A.P. 21 motion. See W.R.A.P. 21(e). That appeal was consolidated with her appeal of the judgment and sentence. See
STANDARD OF REVIEW
[¶11] Though Ms. Mellott asserts jurisdictional and structural error arguments, she describes her consolidated appeal as "primarily" an appeal from the denial of her motion to withdraw her pleas due to ineffective assistance of counsel.
DISCUSSION
[¶12] Ms. Mellott moved to withdraw her guilty pleas under W.R.A.P. 21(a),
Following the docketing of a direct criminal appeal, the appellant may file, in the trial court, a motion claiming ineffective assistance of trial counsel. The motion may be used ... to seek plea withdrawal. ... The motion shall contain nonspeculative allegations of facts which, if true, could support a determination that counsel's representation was deficient and prejudiced the appellant. ...
[¶13] We glean the following from Ms. Mellott's brief on appeal: First, Ms. Mellott argues the ten felony charges of making false statements or misrepresentations when providing medical assistance under the Medicaid program (Counts 2 through 11) violated
I. Statutory Construction - Legislative Intent to Criminalize Individual Claims for Payment
[¶14] In Counts 2 through 11, the State charged Ms. Mellott with violating
A person violating subsection (a) of this section is guilty of:
*383(i) A felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than ten (10) years, a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00), or both, if the value of medical assistance is five hundred dollars ($500.00) or more; or
(ii) A misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than six (6) months, a fine of not more than seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), or both, if the value of medical assistance is less than five hundred dollars ($500.00).
[¶15] Ms. Mellott argues the State improperly reached the $500 felony threshold in each count by "aggregating" the payment values she requested in numerous, separately-filed Medicaid claims submitted for each client over a course of years. Each count specified a different client regarding whom Ms. Mellott allegedly filed unlawful claims and the applicable period-ranging from 25 to 66 months-during which Ms. Mellott allegedly submitted the unlawful claims. She argues the State could not base each charge-or her conviction for each charge-on the sum value of all alleged unlawful claims for a client because the State must charge each such claim separately to comply with
[¶16] The State contends it properly charged Ms. Mellott because the State has discretion to charge violations of
[¶17] Essentially, the parties dispute the "unit of prosecution" in
[¶18] Our primary consideration in interpreting statutes is determining legislative intent, and we first look to the plain and ordinary meaning of the words to determine if the statute is ambiguous. Riddle v. State ,
[¶19] Reading the relevant provisions of
*384to be the unit of prosecution under
"Medical assistance" means partial or full payment of the reasonable charges assessed by any authorized provider of the services and supplies enumerated under W.S. 42-4-103 and consistent with limitations and reimbursement methodologies established by the department, which are provided on behalf of a qualified recipient ....
In Adekale v. State ,
[¶20] Providers apply for medical assistance by submitting a claim for payment. Wyo. Dep't of Health, Medicaid Rules and Regulations ch. 3, § 11 (filed Dec. 15, 1998). A claim may be submitted for any given client for full or partial payment of reasonable charges assessed by the provider. See
The Wyoming Medicaid program allows providers to submit claims on a schedule that makes sense for the individual provider's business. Providers may bill for services up to one year after they provide those services and may combine multiple services in one claim for payment. [Wyo. Dep't of Health, Medicaid Rules and Regulations ch. 3, § 11 (filed Dec. 15, 1998) ] Thus, a case manager can bill for multiple months in a single claim.
Therefore, any claim for payment may vary in the number of services provided, the period of time when services were provided, and the dollar amount of the requested payment.
[¶21] We reject the State's assertion that
*385II. No Jurisdictional or Structural Error
[¶22] The record establishes that the State brought Counts 2 through 11 based on aggregating multiple allegedly unlawful Medicaid claims related to ten specified clients, rather than individual claims for payment. We agree with Ms. Mellott that this approach did not comply with
[¶23] "In a criminal case, jurisdiction is determined by and limited to the allegations on the face of the charging document." Barela v. State ,
[¶24] As to Ms. Mellott's structural error argument, we begin from the premise that "[s]tructural errors are defects affecting the framework within which the trial proceeds, rather than simply errors in the trial process itself." Granzer v. State ,
III. Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
[¶25] At the heart of Ms. Mellott's ineffective assistance of counsel claim, she argues that there was no factual basis for her guilty plea as to Counts 2 through 11. According to Ms. Mellott, the evidence did not support charging her with, or convicting her of, felony violations under
A. Deficiency of Performance
[¶26] "To establish counsel's performance was deficient, the defendant must show that 'counsel failed to render such assistance as would have been offered by a reasonably competent attorney.' "
*386Griggs , ¶ 36,
[¶27] As noted above, we have not previously applied this standard to a situation where the alleged deficient performance involved trial counsel misconstruing the plain meaning of the applicable criminal statute and, based on that misinterpretation, recommending that his client plead guilty to charges that lacked a factual basis. Under these novel circumstances we begin by reviewing why a district court must reject a guilty plea that lacks a factual basis, even if the plea is knowingly and voluntarily made. Nguyen , ¶ 18, 299 P.3d at 688 ; W.R.Cr.P. 11(f). One purpose for that rule is "to prevent the individual charged with a crime from being misled into a waiver of substantial rights." Nguyen , ¶ 11, 299 P.3d at 686 (quoting Maes v. State ,
[¶28] Accordingly, we must determine whether there was a factual basis to support trial counsel's recommendation that Ms. Mellott plead guilty to Counts 2 through 11. We test for a sufficient factual basis under W.R.Cr.P. 11(f) by comparing the elements of the charged offense to the facts admitted by the defendant and inferences arising from those facts. Nguyen , ¶ 13, 299 P.3d at 687 (citing United States v. Garcia-Paulin ,
[¶29] A violation of
B. Prejudice
[¶30] We now consider whether Ms. Mellott has demonstrated she was prejudiced by her trial counsel's deficient performance. Strickland ,
[¶31] Certain deficiencies in trial counsel's performance "can so prejudice the right of a defendant to a fair trial that [they] will serve to support a conclusion that reasonably effective assistance was not afforded." King v. State ,
[¶32] Instead, in this unusual circumstance where the underpinning of Ms. Mellott's ineffective assistance of counsel claim is the misinterpretation of the applicable statute and the resulting lack of a factual basis for her guilty plea as to Counts 2 through 11, our prejudice analysis is best guided by precedent applying a plain error standard of review to evaluate whether an alleged violation of W.R.Cr.P. 11(f) resulted in material prejudice. If we were to presume prejudice in this case, we would establish disparate standards (presumed prejudice v. material prejudice on the record) for what amounts to the same grievance-accepting a guilty plea from a defendant who may understand the nature of the charge but does not realize her conduct does not meet the definition of the crime charged. See Van Haele , ¶ 13,
[¶33] In Nguyen , we reviewed the defendant's W.R.Cr.P. 11(f) claim for plain error and, applying federal case law,
[¶34] Whether the district court accepts a guilty plea without a sufficient factual basis, or defense counsel advises his client to enter such a guilty plea, the defendant faces the same potential prejudice: conviction and punishment for a crime she did not commit. For that reason, we conclude the prejudice analysis in this case should function the same as the material prejudice analysis we applied in Nguyen . It should analyze the root of the problem with trial counsel's deficient performance-whether the record, viewed in its entirety, contains a factual basis to support Ms. Mellott's guilty plea as to felony Counts 2 through 11 under the correct interpretation *389of
[¶35] Having reviewed the entire record in this case, including the record from Ms. Mellott's sentencing and the W.R.A.P. 21 proceedings, we found no evidence to satisfy the felony threshold element in
[¶36] The State argues that if it had not aggregated claims to support Counts 2 through 11, the spreadsheet and witness's testimony show the State could have charged Ms. Mellott with eleven felony and 278 misdemeanor false statement charges. Because the district court did not address the exhibit or the witness's testimony in its factual findings, we are left to review that evidence on its face. The clear contradictions in State's Exhibit D preclude any reasonable inference that Ms. Mellott submitted eleven false claims of $500 or more. Nor does State's Exhibit D show there was a false statement of $500 or more for each of the ten clients identified in Counts 2 through 11. We therefore conclude that Ms. Mellott's guilty plea to felony violations of
CONCLUSION
[¶37] "Medical assistance," as it applies to violating
[¶38] REVERSED and REMANDED.
KAUTZ, J., dissenting, in which FOX, J., joins.
[¶39] I respectfully dissent. Although I agree with the majority's decision that separate monthly claims cannot be aggregated under
STANDARD OF REVIEW
[¶40] We must be cautious when reviewing claims of ineffective counsel.
"Judicial scrutiny of counsel's performance must be highly deferential." Strickland , 466 U.S. at 689,104 S.Ct. 2052 . And "[a] fair assessment of attorney performance requires that every effort be made to eliminate the distorting effects of hindsight, to reconstruct the circumstances of counsel's challenged conduct, and to evaluate the conduct from counsel's perspective at the time."Id. So "a court must indulge a strong presumption that counsel's conduct falls within the wide range of reasonable professional assistance." Knowles [v. Mirzayance ], 556 U.S. [111] at 124,129 S.Ct. 1411 [173 L.Ed.2d 251 (2009) ], quoting Strickland , 466 U.S. at 689,104 S.Ct. 2052 .
United States v. Bertram ,
[¶41] Ms. Mellott pled guilty, learned what her sentences were, and then asked the trial court to permit her to withdraw her pleas under W.R.A.P. 21 for ineffective assistance of counsel. We have, appropriately, established a very high standard that Ms. Mellott must meet to be permitted to withdraw her pleas for ineffective assistance of counsel. It requires Ms. Mellott to show both that (1) counsel's performance was deficient when viewed objectively, from the point of view of counsel at the time, and not in hindsight; and (2) counsel's actions resulted in prejudice-that a different result would have occurred. This case is marked by a glaring failure to prove such prejudice.
Prejudice
[¶42] The burden of showing prejudice as a result of ineffective assistance of counsel always remains on the defendant. See, e.g. , Strickland v. Washington ,
[A]ctual ineffectiveness claims alleging a deficiency in attorney performance are subject to a general requirement that the defendant affirmatively prove prejudice . The government is not responsible for, and hence not able to prevent, attorney errors that will result in reversal of a conviction or sentence. Attorney errors come in an infinite variety and are as likely to be utterly harmless in a particular case as they are to be prejudicial. They cannot be classified according to likelihood of causing prejudice . Nor can they be defined with sufficient precision to inform defense attorneys correctly just what conduct to avoid. Representation is an art, and an act or omission that is unprofessional in one case may be sound or even brilliant in another. Even if a defendant shows that particular errors of counsel were unreasonable, therefore, the defendant must show that they actually had an adverse effect on the defense.
(Emphasis added).
[¶43] The prejudice sufficient to warrant the withdrawal of a guilty plea is that, but for the deficient performance (in this case the failure to challenge the aggregation of the fraudulent Medicaid claims), the defendant would not have pleaded guilty and would have insisted on going to trial.See, e.g. , Hill v. Lockhart ,
[¶44] An appellant who seeks withdrawal of his guilty plea based on ineffective assistance of counsel must allege and prove that *391he would have gone to trial but for the error of counsel. Post-hoc allegations from a defendant that he would have insisted on going to trial had it not been for counsel's deficient performance are insufficient. See, e.g. , Lee v. United States , --- U.S. ----,
[¶45] In this case, there is no evidence that Ms. Mellott would have insisted on going to trial if her defense counsel had raised the aggregation issue. In fact, all of the evidence is to the contrary. Starting with Ms. Mellott's affidavit attached to her motion to withdraw her guilty pleas, nowhere does she assert she would have insisted on going to trial if the aggregation issue had been raised. The closest she comes is in paragraph 64, where she asserts, "If I had known that individual monthly claims for less than $500.00 could have been characterized as misdemeanors, I would never have pleaded guilty to making any false claim that spanned over years, as to each case management client." This statement is not an assertion that she would have insisted on going trial. Rather, she simply states that she would not have pleaded guilty to counts with aggregated claims to reach the felony threshold. It also does not mention Counts 1, 14, and 15, which are felonies and are not affected by the aggregation issue.
[¶46] Ms. Mellott's testimony at the Rule 21 hearing makes the lack of prejudice even more obvious. On seven occasions, she testified that she never wanted to go to trial and that she "wanted it to be done." For example:
I repeatedly told anyone that would question me or listen to me that I didn't want to go to trial. ... I didn't want to waste the State's money prosecuting me. ... I didn't want my family to have to go through any of it, I didn't want these clients to have to go through any of it.
And, as another example:
I was tired. I was done fighting. Enough resources had been spent. I needed to move on. It needed to be over for my family, it needed to be over for my community, it needed to be done.
When the State asked her if she would have insisted on going to trial if she had faced more charges, the necessary alternative if aggregation had not occurred, she replied: "I have no idea" and "I don't know." (Emphasis added).
[¶47] The trial court found and relied on these facts in its decision. The district court stated: "Appellant told (Defense counsel), on several occasions, she wanted to avoid a trial." That was a reasonable position for Ms. Mellott to take, because, as the district court found, "(Defense counsel) ... pointedly asked her if she provided the services for which she billed and which were at issue. Appellant ultimately answered no she did not."
[¶48] Ms. Mellott never alleged she would have gone to trial if her attorney had raised the aggregation issue. This alone is conclusive-it establishes that she failed to carry her burden under Hill . See, e.g. , Boucher v. State ,
[¶49] The majority opinion relieves Ms. Mellott of her burden of proving prejudice because it claims she did not understand "that when she changed her plea there was no factual basis." Consequently, the majority concludes, she "could not have insisted on going to trial." This is an incorrect application of our precedent on ineffective assistance of counsel.
[¶50] The Hill standard, requiring Ms. Mellott to prove that she would have insisted on going to trial, does not require that she know of counsel's deficient performance when she pleads guilty. It is unlikely that any defendant who pleads guilty and later wishes to withdraw that plea based on ineffective assistance of counsel would have known of and evaluated counsel's deficient performance before pleading guilty. Instead, this standard requires Ms. Mellott to prove what would have happened if counsel had not made the alleged error. Here, if counsel had not been mistaken about the meaning of the statute, we have no idea what would have ensued because Ms. Mellott failed to offer any evidence on the issue.
[¶51] The majority opinion concludes Ms. Mellott's prejudice is that she faces "conviction and punishment for a crime she did not commit." If that is the prejudice involved, Ms. Mellott had the obligation to prove those things, and she did not. She did not point to any defense she would have raised and did not even show that she would have faced fewer felonies had the State not aggregated the amounts. She never showed that she did not commit the crimes to which she pled guilty. At the hearing on Ms. Mellott's motion to withdraw her guilty pleas, the State's investigator walked through the false claims and testified that, had each fraudulent claim been prosecuted individually, there were still eleven claims that were over $500-sufficient to prosecute as felonies. The remaining claims, if they were prosecuted individually, would have been sufficient for 278 misdemeanors. This testimony came before Ms. Mellott testified, and she did not dispute it. On cross examination of this witness, Ms. Mellott's attorney acknowledged that there were at least eleven, and potentially fourteen, felony claims. Ms. Mellott's attorney asked the State's investigator:
Q: .... So you would agree that if Claims 2 through 11 had not been aggregated, that there would be 14 potential felony claims?
A: ... I believe there's 11 lines[.]
Q: Okay. I have more than 11, but it speaks for itself. There are a handful of claims as submitted by Ms. Mellott that there were more than $500?
A: Yes.
[¶52] Ms. Mellott's situation is like Miller v. State ,
[¶53] This is not a case where Ms. Mellott was either subject to the charges the State improperly brought or nothing. The non-aggregable claims still exist. The failure to demonstrate what the actual, non-aggregated charges are must weigh against Ms. Mellott, not against the State. She has the burden to establish prejudice and she has failed to carry that burden. Based on her testimony, we can only assume she thought she could have negotiated a better or different deal. Nothing in the record supports that conclusion. And, in any event, it is not the standard we must apply.
[¶54] The majority opinion equates Ms. Mellott's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel with a claim that there was an insufficient factual basis for her pleas under W.R.Cr.P. 11(f). It then creates a new standard for prejudice resulting from ineffective assistance of counsel in a case like this, based on *393Nguyen v. State,
[¶55] The majority opinion, in effect, concludes that in a situation like this one, prejudice is presumed, or implicit, in the fact that the defendant faces consequences for pleading guilty. We described the cases where prejudice from ineffective assistance of counsel is implicit
... there is a narrow class of cases where the "circumstances ... are so likely to prejudice the accused that the cost of litigating their effect in a particular case is unjustified." United States v. Cronic,466 U.S. 648 , 658,104 S.Ct. 2039 ,80 L.Ed.2d 657 (1984) ; see also Strickland,466 U.S. 668 ,104 S.Ct. 2052 ,80 L.Ed.2d 674 . The complete denial of counsel is one such circumstance. Cronic,466 U.S. at 659 ,104 S.Ct. 2039 . Another exists where "counsel entirely fails to subject the prosecution's case to meaningful adversarial testing."Id. Still another exists where counsel is appointed so close to trial that it amounts to a denial of effective assistance.Id. Where such circumstances are shown to exist, prejudice will be presumed without inquiry into the actual performance at trial.Id. Wyoming recognizes this narrow line of cases in which prejudice is presumed. Olsen v. State,2003 WY 46 , ¶ 75,67 P.3d 536 , ¶ 75 (Wyo. 2003) (citing Herdt v. State,816 P.2d 1299 , 1301-02 (Wyo. 1991) ).
[¶56] This is not such a case. The cases listed fit in a "narrow class" where, in effect, there was no defense counsel. Here, counsel simply interpreted the statute in question differently than this Court later interpreted it. His interpretation does not amount to a complete void of representation.
[¶57] This "narrow line" of cases was developed from the following language in Strickland , 466 U.S. at 691, 104 S.Ct. at 2067 :
In certain Sixth Amendment contexts, prejudice is presumed. Actual or constructive denial of the assistance of counsel altogether is legally presumed to result in prejudice. So are various kinds of state interference with counsel's assistance. Prejudice in these circumstances is so likely that case-by-case inquiry into prejudice is not worth the cost. Moreover, such circumstances involve impairments of the Sixth Amendment right that are easy to identify, and for that reason and because the prosecution is directly responsible, easy for the government to prevent.
(Emphasis added).
[¶58] This case does not fit within Strickland's description of situations where there is no need to show prejudice. There was no denial of counsel altogether. The situation does not obviously indicate something fundamentally interfered with Ms. Mellott's Sixth Amendment right. To presume prejudice here, or to find it implicit, weakens the requirement that appellants prove prejudice in ordinary ineffective assistance of counsel situations. Ms. Mellott should not be relieved of the obligation to prove she would have gone to trial if her attorney had foreseen this Court's interpretation of § 42-4-111.
[¶59] I conclude that Ms. Mellott did not establish manifest injustice or prejudice. Because she did not meet her burden of proving that, had her defense counsel correctly interpreted the statute, she would not have pled guilty and would have received a better outcome than she obtained with her guilty pleas. She has not shown this to be a situation "which inherently results in a complete miscarriage of justice." I would affirm the trial court's denial of her motion to withdraw her guilty pleas.
[¶60] I recognize that by this opinion we have found the statutory basis for some of *394Ms. Mellott's guilty pleas to be incorrect. If we determine that such a situation permits timely withdrawal of those guilty pleas as "manifest injustice," then perhaps we should adopt such a rule. However, I cannot find that this situation fits within the circumstances where we have authorized withdrawal of a guilty plea based on ineffective assistance of counsel.
For example, Count 2 of the amended information alleged, in part: "[Ms. Mellott] did unlawfully make a false statement in providing case management services to client DB, and the value of reimbursement received from Wyoming Medicaid is greater than Five Hundred ($500.00) dollars in violation of W.S. § 42-4-111(a)(b)(i), the same being a Felony."
The district court later reduced Ms. Mellott's sentence on a motion from Ms. Mellott. The court suspended all but 90 days of the sentence for Count 1 and ordered Ms. Mellott, upon completion of the 90 days, to be placed on supervised probation for 5 years for her other convictions.
The W.R.A.P. 21 motion was entitled Motion to Withdraw Plea and for New Trial Under Rule 21 (a) W.R.A.P. , and in it, Ms. Mellott asked the district court to allow her to withdraw her pleas, to set her pleas aside, and to grant a new trial. W.R.A.P. 21 allows a defendant to request to withdraw her pleas or request a new trial due to the ineffective assistance of counsel. However, Ms. Mellott did not have a trial prior to pleading guilty and we have previously held, "a motion for a new trial will not lie to attack a judgment and sentence based upon a plea of guilty ...." Garnett v. State ,
As the State notes, "The only claims not waived by an unconditional guilty plea are those that address the jurisdiction of the court or the voluntariness of the plea." Kitzke v. State ,
Ms. Mellott claims she alternatively based her W.R.A.P. 21 motion and request for relief on W.R.Cr.P. 35, which allows the correction of illegal sentences. However, she makes no substantive argument under W.R.Cr.P. 35, and our review of the record reveals W.R.Cr.P. 35 was not part of her W.R.A.P. 21 motion and she did not mention W.R.Cr.P. 35 to the district court until the final page of her Defendant's Reply to the State's Closing Argument , well after the motion hearing. Even then, Ms. Mellott appears to have raised W.R.Cr.P. 35 as a last-ditch jurisdictional basis for the district court to reverse her convictions absent a finding of ineffective assistance of counsel. As a result, the district court addressed W.R.Cr.P. 35 summarily in its decision letter on the W.R.A.P. 21 motion. Because W.R.Cr.P. 35 was not substantially at issue in Ms. Mellott's W.R.A.P. 21 motion proceedings and she does not substantively raise the issue here on appeal, we do not address it further. See State v. Campbell Cty. Sch. Dist. ,
As a second claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, Ms. Mellott argues her trial counsel failed to sufficiently investigate Ms. Mellott's case before advising her to accept a plea agreement requiring her to plead guilty to all charges. Because we conclude Ms. Mellott's first ineffective assistance of counsel claim is dispositive, we do not address this second argument.
To the extent the State relies on cases from other jurisdictions to support its aggregation of claims in Counts 2 through 11, those cases are distinguishable as they either address duplicity of charges or address a statute without a provision that required separate violations to be charged as separate offenses. See Commonwealth v. Goodman ,
This ineffective assistance of counsel claim is one of first impression. As discussed infra at ¶ 28, we previously have considered direct challenges to the validity of guilty pleas based on alleged violations of W.R.Cr.P. 11(f), which requires the trial court to determine there is a factual basis before accepting a guilty plea. See, e.g. , Kiet Hoang Nguyen v. State ,
"Wyoming's Rule 11 mirrors F.R.Cr.P. 11, and much of the jurisprudence used in interpreting the state rule originates in federal case law." Williams , ¶ 14 n.5,
The Tenth Circuit limited application of the heightened prejudice requirement to those cases "evaluating the effect of an omitted Rule 11 warning on the defendant's decision to enter a guilty plea," reasoning that
Rule 11(b)(3) [analogous to W.R.Cr.P. 11(f) ] errors are distinct from the type of error addressed in Dominguez Benitez : A district court must reject a defendant's plea if it lacks a factual basis, even if the plea is knowingly and voluntarily made. Thus, whether Landeros would have ple[ ]d guilty in spite of any Rule 11(b)(3) error is irrelevant; the issue is whether the district court's alleged error in accepting the plea had a substantial effect on his rights. Accordingly, the Dominguez Benitez rule does not apply.
The Iowa Supreme Court has applied a similar framework to analyze claims that a defendant's counsel provided ineffective assistance by advising his client to plead guilty without a sufficient factual basis. See, e.g. , Schminkey , 597 N.W.2d at 788. For that particular ineffective assistance of counsel claim, the Iowa court's "first and only inquiry is whether the record shows a factual basis" for the defendant's guilty plea. Id. If the record fails to establish a factual basis, the Iowa court presumes prejudice. See id. ("Prejudice in such a case is inherent.").
The term "implicit" may be more appropriate than "presumed." When something is presumed, the presumption may be rebutted. Even if there were a "presumption" of prejudice here, the evidence rebuts that presumption. When Ms. Mellott declined to state that she would have gone to trial, there simply was no prejudice.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Lisa L. MELLOTT, (Defendant) v. The STATE of Wyoming, (Plaintiff).
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