Lafontant v. State

13 A.3d 56, 197 Md. App. 217, 2011 Md. App. LEXIS 10
CourtCourt of Special Appeals of Maryland
DecidedFebruary 3, 2011
DocketNo. 1228
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 13 A.3d 56 (Lafontant v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Special Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lafontant v. State, 13 A.3d 56, 197 Md. App. 217, 2011 Md. App. LEXIS 10 (Md. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

EYLER, JAMES R., J.

Joseph Lafontant, appellant, was convicted in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County of, inter alia, manslaughter by vehicle, pursuant to a plea agreement. In the agreement, appellant promised to plead guilty to the charge, and the State assured appellant that it would seek no more than four years of active incarceration.

On January 14, 2008, the circuit court held a plea hearing. Appellant pled guilty to manslaughter, and was convicted. On March 14, 2008, the court held a sentencing hearing. At the sentencing hearing, counsel for Catherine Riley, the victim’s representative, appeared and requested for the first time that the court order appellant to pay her, i.e., Ms. Riley, nearly $12,000 in restitution. The court postponed the restitution decision, but sentenced appellant to ten-years’ imprisonment, all but four years of which were suspended in favor of supervised probation for five years. At a subsequent restitution hearing on July 11, 2008, the court ordered appellant to pay the full amount of restitution.

Appellant filed an application for leave to appeal to this Court on July 29, 2008, which was granted on March 9, 2010. The victim’s representative filed a brief in this Court, pursuant to Maryland Rule 8-lll(c).1

On appeal, appellant contends that the restitution order should be vacated because it was in violation of the plea [221]*221agreement. On October 1, 2010, the National Crime Victim Law Institute filed an amicus curiae brief in support of the victim’s representative, and on October 18, 2010, the State filed a brief in support of the restitution order. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the restitution order.

Facts and Proceedings

On February 10, 2007, appellant, driving under the influence of alcohol, struck an oncoming vehicle driven by the victim’s representative. The crash killed the victim, Brianna Stanton, the twelve-year-old granddaughter of the victim’s representative, who was a passenger in the vehicle driven by the victim’s representative. Appellant was charged by grand jury in the circuit court with nine counts, including manslaughter by vehicle or vessel under Maryland Code (2002), § 2-209 of the Criminal Law Article (“CL”).2

The victim’s representative filed a Crime Victim Notification Request and Demand for Rights Form in the State’s Attorney’s Office pursuant to Maryland Code (2008 RepLVol.), § 11-104(d)(1) of the Criminal -Procedure Article (“CP”), which provides that “a victim or victim’s representative may file a completed notification request form with the prosecuting attorney.” On August 16, 2007 the State’s Attorney’s Office filed a copy of the form in the circuit court pursuant to CP § 11—104(d)(2), which requires the prosecuting attorney to “send a copy of the completed notification request form to the clerk of the circuit court or juvenile court.”

[222]*222Appellant entered into a plea agreement with the State. Evidence of the terms of the agreement comes from statements that were made at a plea hearing on January 14, 2008, a sentencing hearing on March 14, 2008, and a restitution hearing on July 11, 2008. Those statements are noted throughout the discussion below. The only statements that are relevant, however, are those made at the plea hearing. Cuffley v. State, 416 Md. 568, 7 A.3d 557 (2010). We shall consider only those statements in our analysis.

There is no indication in the record that the victim’s representative did not receive notice of the plea agreement prior to the plea hearing, pursuant to CP § ll-104(e), which requires the prosecuting attorney to notify victim’s representatives of plea agreement terms under certain circumstances.3 Presumably, therefore, the victim’s representative did receive such notice. In fact, the victim’s representative and other members of the victim’s family were present at the hearing, as permitted by Article 47(b) of the Maryland Declaration of Rights,4 and CP § 11-102.5

At the plea hearing, defense counsel stated:

[223]*223Mr. Lafontant will be entering a plea of guilty to Count One. At the time of the sentencing the State has agreed to be bound to no more than—they request no more than four years active incarceration, and the defense will be free to allocute for whatever they think is reasonable. And those are the parameters.

The colloquy between the court and counsel included the following:

[The Court]: Do you understand that once I accept your plea of guilty, the only thing left to be done is to sentence you and give you the agreed to sentence according to the agreement your attorney reached with the State’s Attorney and sentence you to no more than four years of actual incarceration? So when you come back to court on March 14th, you could be sentenced to ten years, all suspended but four years, and thereafter be placed on five years active supervised probation. Do you understand the consequences of your plea?
[Appellant]: Yes, Your Honor.

Appellant was thus convicted of vehicular manslaughter. Before the sentencing hearing, the victim’s representative retained counsel through the Maryland Crime Victim’s Resource Center. Counsel for the victim’s representative advised the victim’s representative of her right to request restitution under CP § ll-603(b), and prepared a written request that the trial court order appellant to pay the victim’s representative $11,977. The request contained a written statement of expenses, along with the bills themselves. The expenses consisted of charges for the medical treatment of the victim, funeral and burial charges, and expenses incurred by the victim’s representative for grief counseling expenses.

The request was not filed until March 14, 2008—the date of the sentencing hearing. Counsel for the victim’s representative appeared at the sentencing hearing that day, along with [224]*224the prosecutor and counsel for the defense. During the hearing, the victim’s representative’s attorney requested that the trial court order appellant to pay restitution to the victim.

Defense counsel objected that restitution was not part of the plea agreement, and that the request “seemed to be changing the terms.” The prosecutor added that he “did not discuss restitution [with appellant] at the time [they] arranged the plea, other than ... the fact [that] the victim has a right to request it.” Counsel for the victim’s representative argued in turn that (1) the victim, separate from the State, has a right to ask for restitution as a condition of probation, and (2) the court “is not bound in terms of probation, fine, [or] anything else since [they weren’t] included” in the agreement.

The court then asked defense counsel whether, given the unexpected request for restitution, appellant wished to withdraw his guilty plea. Defense counsel answered “no.” The court, with consent of the parties, decided not to rule on the restitution request in order to allow defense counsel to discuss it with his client, and to permit the parties and counsel for the victim’s representative to supply the court with authority for and against the request.6

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Related

McKinney v. State
196 A.3d 520 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2018)
Griffin v. Lindsey
119 A.3d 753 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 2015)
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98 A.3d 340 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2014)
Carlini v. State
81 A.3d 560 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2013)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
13 A.3d 56, 197 Md. App. 217, 2011 Md. App. LEXIS 10, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lafontant-v-state-mdctspecapp-2011.