Alford v. Brigano

67 F. App'x 282
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedMay 22, 2003
DocketNo. 01-3475
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 67 F. App'x 282 (Alford v. Brigano) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Alford v. Brigano, 67 F. App'x 282 (6th Cir. 2003).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Petitioner-appellant. Melvin Alford, appeals from the dismissal of his habeas petition filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. This Court issued a certificate of appealability as to only one issue: whether Alford was denied due process when the trial court refused to allow Alford to withdraw his plea of guilty. Alford claims he should have been allowed to withdraw his guilty plea because he did not understand that it could result in consecutive sentences. After reviewing the record, the arguments, and the applicable law, we affirm.

I.

On August 9,1996, Alford pleaded guilty in the common pleas court in Lake County, Ohio, to kidnaping, felonious assault, and aggravated burglary with a firearm specification. In making his due process argument. Alford relies on the following discussion that occurred early in the plea hearing:

THE COURT: Has your attorney promised you a specific sentence in this case?
THE DEFENDANT: Not ready.
THE COURT: Wed, what do you mean, “Not ready”?
THE DEFENDANT: He said five to twenty-five I could get off this sentence.
THE COURT: Wed, that’s correct. Anything else? Did he say anything else?
THE DEFENDANT: No, sir.

The trial court explained several times the sentencing range of the offenses stated in the indictment. After the last explanation, the trial court directed Alford to read and then review the written plea of gudty with his attorney. The fodowing discussion then occurred between Alford and the trial court:

THE DEFENDANT: So I can get — I have a question. I can get ad this time?
THE COURT: You can get the — you can get the straight time on each sentence, or you can get consecutive time. Is that what you mean? That’s where you add up everything.
THE DEFENDANT: Yeah, I guess it ad ran together.
THE COURT: Yeah, you can have that.
The judge can decide to give you the sentence on Count Three, and then add that to the sentence on Count Four, and he can add that to the sentence on Count Six, and add them ad up together.
So he can do it that way, or the judge can give you one sentence and make everything concurrent, and that would mean that you would only serve one sentence.
MR. QUINN: Ad run at the same time, though.
THE COURT: So either of two ways; either I can run it ad at the same — at [284]*284the same time, or add them all together, all the three sentences together.
MR. QUINN: Do you understand?

Alford then signed the written plea of guilty. After once again explaining the sentencing ranges of the offenses to which Alford was pleading guilty, the trial court accepted his plea. A sentencing hearing was held on September 11, 1996. When asked to make his statement, Alford said that he wanted to withdraw his plea “due to the fact that I was — I wasn’t in my right set of mind, and I think I could be successful at beating this because it just doesn’t add up.” When asked to explain what Alford did not understand when he entered his guilty plea, Alford responded: “As far as, like, time-wise, you can give me a substantial amount of time for this, you know. And I’d rather — I’d rather go down fighting it instead of just pleading guilty to something that I know I didn’t do.” The trial court denied Alford’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea and sentenced him to consecutive terms of ten to twenty years on the kidnaping conviction, six to fifteen years on the felonious assault conviction, eight to twenty-five years on the aggravated robbery conviction, and three years on the aggravated burglary firearm specification.

On March 2, 1998, Alford appealed to the Ohio Court of Appeals and argued, among other things, that the guilty plea was the result of sentence confusion. The Ohio Court of Appeals affirmed his convictions. It concluded that the trial court had clarified any confusion that may have existed regarding the possible sentencing ranges and had informed Alford that he could receive consecutive sentences. Alford then appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court, which, on January 19, 2000, declined jurisdiction and dismissed the appeal as not involving any substantial constitutional question.

The petition for writ of habeas corpus was filed in this case on June 27, 2000. With respect to the issue under consideration in this appeal, the magistrate found that Alford’s plea transcript demonstrated that the trial court had accurately explained to Alford the potential sentences that could result from his guilty plea. On February 15, 2001, the district court adopted the magistrate’s report and recommendation and dismissed the petition finding “as evidenced by the transcript of proceedings from the change of plea hearing, the Judge, at length, described the possible sentences and petitioner stated that he understood the court’s explanation.” This appeal followed.

II.

We review the district court’s denial of a habeas petition de novo. Fair v. United States, 157 F.3d 427 (6th Cir.1998). Our review is governed by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, Pub.L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214 (1996) (“AEDPA”). See Lindh v. Murphy, 521 U.S. 320, 326-27, 117 S.Ct. 2059, 138 L.Ed.2d 481 (1997). Under the AEDPA, a federal court may not grant a writ of habeas corpus to a state prisoner with respect to any claim adjudicated on the merits unless (1) the state court’s decision was “contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court,” 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1); or (2) the state court’s decision “was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented in the State court proceeding.” 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(2). An unreasonable application of federal law occurs when “the state court identifies the correct governing legal principle from [the Supreme] Court’s decisions but unreasonably applies that principle to the facts of the prisoner’s case.” Williams [285]*285v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 412-13, 120 S.Ct. 1495, 146 L.Ed.2d 389 (2000). Under this standard, a state court decision is not unreasonable simply because the federal court concludes that the state decision is erroneous or incorrect. Id. at 411. Rather, the federal court must determine that the state court decision is an objectively unreasonable application of federal law. Id. at 410-12. Factual findings by state courts are presumed correct. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1).

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Bluebook (online)
67 F. App'x 282, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alford-v-brigano-ca6-2003.