Martin v. State

470 N.E.2d 733, 1984 Ind. App. LEXIS 3038
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 13, 1984
DocketNo. 2-1183-A-417
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 470 N.E.2d 733 (Martin v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Martin v. State, 470 N.E.2d 733, 1984 Ind. App. LEXIS 3038 (Ind. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

SULLIVAN, Judge.

Petitioner, Doren L. Martin (Martin) appeals the denial of a petition for post-con-viection relief. In 1975, Martin was convicted of Armed Robbery after a plea of guilty. Martin contends the guilty plead was invalid because, at the guilty plea hearing, the trial court failed to advise him of his right to a public and speedy trial, to confront and cross-examine witnesses and to have compulsory process for witnesses in his favor. The State maintains that the overall record showed Martin was sufficiently apprised of all the rights waived and that the post-conviction petition was barred by laches. The Marion County trial court found that the plea of guilty was entered knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily and that Martin's petition, filed July 15, 1983, was barred by laches, as this remedy was available to him since April 11, 1975.

Martin alleges the trial court erred in concluding that: ,

(1) Martin's guilty plea was entered knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily after a full advisement of all constitutional rights waived by such plea, and
(2) The post-conviction petition - was barred by the doctrine of laches.

In challenging the denial of his post-conviction petition, Martin has the burden of proving his allegations by a prepon[735]*735derance of the evidence. Ind.Rules of Procedure, Post Conviction Rule 1, § 5. A decision will be reversed only where the evidence is without conflict and leads to a conclusion contrary to that reached by the trial court. Early v. State (1982) Ind., 442 N.E.2d 1071.

In reaching its conclusion that the plea was validly entered, the post-conviction court referred to the enumeration of rights contained in the plea agreement and in the Motion to Withdraw Former Plea of Not Guilty (Motion). - Additionally, the trial court found that Martin was represented by "competent counsel", defined in part as counsel who advised a client of the rights waived by pleading guilty. The written plea agreement, the Motion and the advice of counsel appear to have been the determinative factors in the post-conviction court's decision that Martin was meaningfully informed of the rights he was waiving by pleading guilty.

Until October 10, 1984, the binding Indiana case precedent clearly called for a reversal of a conviction obtained pursuant to a guilty plea under cireumstances such as before us. However, on that date our supreme court decided Williams v. State Ind., 468 N.E.2d 1036 holding as follows:

"In German v. State, (1981) Ind., 428 N.E.2d 234, this Court held that a written plea agreement entered into beyond the sight and hearing of the court may not be considered an adequate substitute for specifically addressing the subject on so fundamental a matter as the concept of waiver. German, was decided December 8, 1981. However, the guilty plea hearing in the case at bar was held on December 4, 1979. Consequently, we will use the standard of review employed in Neeley v. State, (1978) 269 Ind. 588, 382 N.E.2d 714, and look to the entire record to determine if petitioner was fully advised of and understood his constitutional rights. Cf. Turman v. State (1979) 271 Ind. 332, 392 N.E.2d 483."

The Williams case, therefore, has impliedly overruled all cases which applied German v. State (1981) Ind., 428 N.E.2d 234 retroactively, le., to guilty pleas entered prior to December 3, 1981.

Representative of such cases involving right advisement failure by court, notwithstanding a record reflecting knowledge and understanding of the rights, are: Anderson v. State (Decided July 23, 1984) Ind., 465 N.E.2d 1101 (guilty plea February 5, 1979) Davis v. State (Decided April 13, 1983) Ind., 446 N.E.2d 1317 (guilty plea prior to April 5, 1978) Early v. State (Decided December 22, 1982) Ind., 442 N.E.2d 1071 (guilty plea April 10, 1979) Morrison v. State (2d Dist., August 9, 1984) Ind.App., 466 N.E.2d 783 (guilty plea 1974), Davis v. State (Ist Dist., June 18, 1984) Ind.App., 464 N.E.2d 926 (guilty plea October 1, 1976); see also Austin v. State (decided August 9, 1984) Ind., 466 N.E.2d 445,

Inasmuch as the guilty plea before us was entered in 1975, we must look to the record to determine if Martin was fully advised of, and understood his constitutional rights. In light of the facts heretofore set forth we necessarily conclude that the guilty plea was not invalidated by the failure of the trial judge to specifically advise him of his right to a public and speedy trial, to confront and cross-examine witnesses and to have compulsory process for witnesses in his favor.

The application of Williams v. State, supra, to the case before us, however, does not end our inquiry.

Various defense attorneys and prosecutors, as well as two separate trial courts, were confronted with this particular guilty plea over the course of nearly nine years. No one has ever challenged the fact that Martin was convicted of a crime with which he was not charged. The fact that this issue was not raised at the trial level, the post-conviction hearing or in this appeal does not permit us to ignore such fundamental error at the appellate level. (Griffin v. State (1982) Ind., 439 N.E.2d 160, 162; Addis v. State (4th Dist.1980) Ind.App., 404 N.E.2d 59, 62, trans. denied.

[736]*736The facts most favorable to the prosecution show that Martin, age 17, was one of three men involved in an attempt to rob Mildred L. Roberts in her home on September 7, 1974. Mrs. Roberts struggled briefly with one of her attackers after which all three would-be robbers fled. Two of the three, including Martin, were charged as juveniles, although Martin was later waived over to adult court.

The parties executed a plea bargaining agreement, filed with the trial court on March 14, 1975, in which Martin agreed to plead guilty as charged and further agreed to testify against one of his accomplices should that accomplice be brought to trial. The State in turn agreed to recommend that Martin be sentenced under the Minors' Statute, Ind.Code Stat. § 9-1815 (Burns 1929, repealed 1976) which permitted the court to sentence Martin to one year at the Indiana State Farm as a first felony offender. This agreement was accepted by the court on March 14, 1975, and Martin was sentenced on April 11, 1975, in accordance therewith. The sentence there imposed has been fully served.

Subsequently, Martin was arrested in Owen County, Indiana, in 1981 and charged with burglary, theft, robbery and with being an habitual offender. Part of the basis for the habitual offender charge was the 1975 conviction challenged in this appeal. Martin again pled guilty as charged.

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Related

Jackson v. State
786 N.E.2d 748 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2003)
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480 N.E.2d 548 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1985)
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474 N.E.2d 536 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1985)

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Bluebook (online)
470 N.E.2d 733, 1984 Ind. App. LEXIS 3038, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/martin-v-state-indctapp-1984.