Dorothy v. State of Maine

CourtSuperior Court of Maine
DecidedMay 4, 2000
DocketKENcr-95-420
StatusUnpublished

This text of Dorothy v. State of Maine (Dorothy v. State of Maine) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dorothy v. State of Maine, (Me. Super. Ct. 2000).

Opinion

STATE OF MAINE SUPERIOR COURT CRIMINAL ACTION . KENNEBEC, ss. DOCKET NO. CR-95-420

DHM-KEW- 5/4 )/aec0e ANTHONY DOROTHY,

Petitioner

v. ORDER

STATE OF MAINE,

Respondent

This matter is before the court on petitioner’s amended petition for post- conviction review. In his original petition, the petitioner alleged ineffective assistance of counsel prior to his entering his pleas and at time of pleading. He charges that his attorney was not prepared, misrepresented the sentence as part of the plea agreement, caused him to plead guilty to an escape of which he was not guilty, did not advise him completely of the charges, did not provide proper discovery for his review, and did not complete investigation in preparation for trial. In his amended petition, the petitioner charges ineffective assistance of counsel in that he was not fully informed of his rights, that he was under duress at the time of pleading, was not properly informed of his agreed upon sentence, was denied full discovery and an opportunity to argue for a continuance, did not fully understand the charges before pleading, a violation of his attorney/client privilege, and that his defense was prejudiced. He further asserted that his counsel’s representation was “seriously incompetent, inefficient, and inattentive, which deprived petitioner of

adequate knowledge of his case, and possibly an important defense in his case.” After hearing, the petitioner presented four bases of ineffective assistance of counsel during the Rule 11 proceedings conducted in this case. Mr. Dorothy says he was not given an explanation of the elements of the offenses to which he pled Nolo Contendre, was not given an explanation of the significance of his plea of Nolo Contendre after making clear he did not wish to plead guilty, was given assurances regarding the impact of the sentence to which he was expected to agree that were inaccurate, and was not informed that his pleas to three class A offenses would expose him to the risk of a federal sentence as a career criminal. In addition, and as a further ground, the petitioner alleges that the court did not comply with MLR. Crim. P. 11(c) in that the court did not determine that Mr. Dorothy understood the elements of the crimes charged.

In seeking post-conviction relief, the petitioner has the same burden of proof applicable in civil actions. Duguay v. State, 309 A.2d 234, 238 (Me. 1973). In seeking post-conviction relief, petitioner bears the “burden of proof by a fair preponderance of the evidence.” Davis v. State, 306 A.2d 127, 136 (Me. 1973) (citing Bennett v. State, 161 Me. 489, 214 A.2d 667 (1965); Gordon v. State, 232 A.2d 527 (Me. 1967)). “[A] judgment of conviction, whether based upon a finding of guilty by the jury or upon the entering of a plea of guilty by the defendant, carries with it a presumption of regularity which casts the burden of proof upon the petitioner in post conviction habeas corpus proceedings, albeit only by the fair preponderance of the evidence.” Cote v. State, 286 A.2d 868, 874 (Me. 1972) (citing Bennett v. State, 161 Me. 489, 214 .

A.2d 667 (1965)). Petitioner claims that he did not understand the elements of the offense to which he entered a plea of Nolo and that those elements were not explained to him by the court. The transcript of the Rule 11 proceeding provides the following dialogue:

THE COURT: All right, thank you. Have you had a chance to talk to Mr. Perrino about the elements of the class A offenses to which you are pleading no contest that the State would have to prove in order for you to be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of these three offenses?

MR. DOROTHY: Yes.

THE COURT: With regard to Gross Sexual Assault, the State would have to prove on or about the day alleged in the indictment or the information in Augusta that you engaged in a sexual act with -- on two of the counts in 93-142 -- a sexual act with Christina Brock. She was not your spouse; she had not attained her 14th birthday, in fact, she was 12 years of age. That’s Count 1 and 2 on 93-142. Do you understand the elements of those Class A offenses, sir?

THE COURT: With regard to the information, the State would have to

prove that on the dates alleged in Palmyra you engaged in a sexual act

with Tammy Marks; Tammy Marks submitted as a result of

compulsion. Do you understand the elements of that offense, sir?

Trial counsel testified that he went over the elements of the offense by discussing with the petitioner the text of Ferdico. While he admitted that he could not recall whether there was a specific discussion of the definition of a “sexual act,” he is quite comfortable that he advised the petitioner and was assured throughout

the entire proceedings that the defendant understood exactly what he was charged

with. It is worth noting that during this period of presentation, the petitioner engaged in rather bizarre behavior at the jail which he described as a “zoning out” period. The behavior was suggestive of some mental health condition which would cause one to believe that the petitioner was not mentally aware of his surroundings. To that end, counsel had a psychological examination conducted by a qualified psychologist who concluded that the petitioner was deliberately creating a false impression of mental aberration and attempting to use it to manipulate the process. In addition, counsel had concerns as to whether it was part of a plan by the petitioner to effectuate an escape. Under those circumstances, trial counsel was careful to document conversations and communications to assure the petitioner had been provided full information with respect to the proceedings. Inasmuch as counsel was retained by the mother of the petitioner for purposes of representation, counsel testified he attempted to keep the mother informed, but it became unclear as to whether the petitioner was providing full disclosure to his mother and counsel was concerned over the privileged communications with his client. Nevertheless, in light of the clear indication to the court at the time of the Rule 11 proceeding that he understood the elements, petitioner has failed to provide any evidence to meet his burden of proof that his plea was to a charge of which he did not have full knowledge.

The court is unclear as to the allegation by petitioner that he did not. understand the significance of his plea of Nolo after making it clear he did not wish

to plead guilty. The history of this case from both the petitioner and his counsel would seem to indicate that the petitioner was very clear that he did not wish to plead guilty but wished to go to trial. However, at one point, counsel became aware and so advised petitioner that he was under investigation in an adjoining county to determine whether he, the defendant, had been involved in a “murder for hire” scheme. Given that possibility, counsel had further discussions with the petitioner in which he attempted to accede to his request not to plead guilty but to dispose of the matter consistent with the evidence in the possession of the State and the knowledge on the part of the petitioner and enter a plea of Nolo. The only significance of such plea is the knowledge that by entering such a plea he would be found guilty. According to the evidence presented to this court, there does not appear to be any indication that the petitioner was ever at a point when he did not realize that an accepted Nolo plea would result in a finding of guilty.

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Related

Hill v. Lockhart
474 U.S. 52 (Supreme Court, 1985)
State v. Brewer
1997 ME 177 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1997)
Bennett v. State
214 A.2d 667 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1965)
Gordon v. State
232 A.2d 527 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1967)
Cote v. State
286 A.2d 868 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1972)
Davis v. State
306 A.2d 127 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1973)
Duguay v. State
309 A.2d 234 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1973)
Laferriere v. State
1997 ME 169 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1997)

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Dorothy v. State of Maine, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dorothy-v-state-of-maine-mesuperct-2000.